Priest suspended for riding a hoverboard during Christmas mass

 

A priest in the Philippines was suspended Tuesday for using a hoverboard during Christmas Eve mass.

Despite the apparent delight of his congregation of San Pablo in Laguna, his superiors felt indifferently.

The priest, whose identity is not known, rode up and down the aisle of his church singing "May the Good Lord Bess and Keep You." Cell phone video of the priest went viral and the diocese suspended the priest. 

On Tuesday, it issued a statement defining the Christmas eve as the church's "highest form of worship" and declaring his actions "wrong."

"It is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of people," the statement read. "The priest said that it was a wake-up call for him. He acknowledged that his action was not right and promised that it will not happen again."

The diocese promised the priest's suspension will allow him to "spend some time to reflect on this past event."

But the comments on the diocese’s facebook page  was split over the priest's suspension. What the church did not address was the continuing safety problems with the hoverboards.

The highly popular toy has been pulled from Amazon and some other retailers as well as being banned on the streets of New York and England. The boards have become infamous for causing injury and for spontaneously combusting.