Priest suspended after rough baptism that left baby terrified

A Russian Orthodox priest sparked
outrage on social media after a mother
claimed he bruised and nearly drowned
her toddler during an intense ‘exorcism-
like’ baptism ceremony.
Priest Vasily Necheporenko, known by
his church name Photios, was suspended
for a year following the disturbing infant
baptism ceremony, which ended with the
child’s family filing a police report.
The incident took place over the weekend
at a small church in the city of Gatchina,
around 40km from St. Petersburg. A
video of the ceremony shows the priest
taking the one-year-old baby and carrying
it to the small baptismal font. According
to the Russian Orthodox tradition, a child
has to be dipped three times in holy water
in order to be baptized.
The child is seen crying loudly and
appears to be resisting. The priest tries to
submerge the baby several times,
forcefully pushing it inside the font, and
then clumsily lifting it up.
The child’s distraught mother then runs
up to the priest, attempting to take the
baby away. The priest does not allow her
to do so, and shoulders the woman aside,
continuing with the ritual while yanking
the baby in the air. The video prompted
outrage on social media.
Some shocked viewers said the
ceremony resembled an exorcism rather
than a normal baptism. “The priest was
possessed by the devil,” one person wrote,
while other commenters called the priest
“insane” and described his actions as
“abuse.”
The toddler’s mother, Anastasia
Alekseyeva, told Russian media that the
atmosphere was tense right from the
start. The priest began by berating her
and the child’s godparent for not knowing
the prayers, she said.
“After the first immersion, I understood that
the baby was drowning. I began pulling it
the woman explained, adding that the toddler was
bruised during the ceremony.
The child’s mother said church officials
later called her to apologize for the
priest’s behavior. She had filed a police
report right after the ceremony. Senior
hierarchs condemned the priest as well.
Priestmonk Gennadius, who leads the
parish work department at the Moscow
Patriarchy’s office, called his actions
“madness” and said that such “inadequate”
service during ceremonies hurts the
church’s mission.