SHOCKING footage has emerged showing a priest’s violent attempt to calm down a crying baby by slapping it during a baptism in France.

The YouTube video was uploaded to Reddit on Thursday and sparked a torrent of outrage from viewers the world over, many furious that a trusted religious official would do such a thing.

The footage depicts what looks like a standard christening with the priest trying to perform the religious ceremony with a crying baby.

The priest initially attempts to console the infant by holding its head, but when that fails the priest appears to lose his temper and slaps the baby in the face.

According to a Reddit user, the priest, speaking in French, can be heard saying, “Oh lala lala. I’ll scream louder than you, OK? Calm down. Calm down.”

Onlookers, clearly appalled by what they’ve just seen can be heard saying, “Sir we don’t hit him” and “Isn’t this forbidden?”.

A few moments pass before a man, visibly upset, then tries to pry the baby from the pastor’s grip but the video cuts out and we’re unable to see what happens next.

Social media users slammed the priest for abusing the infant.

“I’m trying to figure out why no one slapped the old man back,” one Facebook user said.

“This man calls himself a priest! Sick vile man,” another said.

Some brought into question the need for the religious ceremony.

“And yet another reason why I’m not bringing up my kids as Catholics,” wrote a Reddit user.

It’s unclear whether the priest has been charged or if further action was taken by the child’s parents.