A Catholic priest in the Philippines has been forced to repent after he took a spin on a hoverboard — during Christmas Eve Mass. 
 
 The unidentified holy roller drew the ire of the Diocese of San Pablo after cell phone video footage of him — riding up and down the nave of his church with a microphone in hand and singing "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" — went viral. 
 
 When he stepped off the device to deliver the final blessing, his parishioners gave him a round of applause. 
 
 His superiors were less amused. 
 
 "That was wrong," the diocese flatly declared in a statement posted online. "It is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of people." 
 
 The priest has gotten the message — and is apologizing. 
 
 "The priest said that it was a wake-up call for him," the diocesan statement reads. "He acknowledged that his action was not right and promised that it will not happen again." 
 
 The motorized man of the cloth has been yanked from his church in metro Manila and "will spend some time to reflect on this past event," the statement concludes. 
 
 Hoverboards were one of the hottest Christmas gifts this year despite the dangers of falling off the self-balancing, two-wheeled, battery-powered scooters. ||||| Written By Chad Merda Posted: 12/29/2015, 12:50pm 
 
 The good Lord may have saved him from wiping out on his new hoverboard , but one priest in the Philippines couldn’t be saved from a suspension at the hands of the Diocese of San Pablo after he used a hoverboard during Christmas Eve Mass. 
 
 The diocese announced the suspension on Tuesday, according to Rappler. It did not publicly name the priest. 
 
 The incident, which happened before the final blessing, was all captured on video. 
 
 In a statement, the diocese said the priest “will be out of the parish and will spend some time to reflect on this past event. He would like to apologize for what happened.” 
 
 It also described the incident as “a wake up call for him.” 
 
 “He acknowledged that his action was not right and promised that it will not happen again,” the diocese said in its statement. 
 
 In announcing the suspension, the diocese said the priest failed to realize that the Mass is the church’s highest form of worship. 
 
 “It is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of the people,” the diocese said. 
 
 In the priest’s defense, at least he didn’t get the attention of his flock by doing this: 
 
 A video posted by MIGATTI- $399 (@migattiusa) on Dec 26, 2015 at 7:44am PST 
 
 h/t: Religion News Service ||||| Image caption Priest Paul Vlaar, right, gave the Mass an orange theme for the World Cup final 
 
 A Catholic priest in the Netherlands who held an orange-themed Mass in support of the national football team has been suspended. 
 
 The Reverend Paul Vlaar wore an orange robe and decked out his church in orange before Sunday's World Cup final. 
 
 During the service he even acted as a goalkeeper as a parishioner kicked a football down the aisle. 
 
 But the Bishop of Haarlem said he had not paid sufficient respect to the sacred nature of the Eucharist. 
 
 Maybe we allowed ourselves to be swept along a little too much in the 'Oranje' euphoria Win Bijman, Obdam parish vice-chairman 
 
 Footage of the service in the village of Obdam north of Amsterdam made it on to YouTube and was broadcast around the world. 
 
 However, it failed to impress Bishop Jozef Punt. 
 
 In a statement, he said the service had "caused outrage" in the Netherlands and overseas. He ordered Mr Vlaar to enter "a period of reflection" and suspended him from his duties. 
 
 Mr Vlaar was not available for comment, but Obdam parish vice-chairman Win Bijman told AP news agency the congregation was "shocked and disappointed" by the suspension. 
 
 "People do not understand it. Everybody supports Pastor Paul and we don't see what was so bad that he should be temporarily suspended," he said. 
 
 "Maybe we allowed ourselves to be swept along a little too much in the 'Oranje' euphoria," he added, referring to the Dutch national football team. 
 
 "But it is part of Pastor Paul's personality that he manages to harness that kind of enthusiasm to get people into church. The church here is full and in other places churches are empty." 
 
 Despite the congregation's best efforts, their prayers went unanswered. The Netherlands lost the final one-nil to Spain. ||||| A Catholic priest who made headlines around the world by holding an orange mass to pray for the Dutch team before its World Cup final against Spain has been suspended by his bishop, a parish official said on Friday. 
 
 Bishop Jozef Punt of Haarlem said in a statement issued late Thursday that Rev. Paul Vlaar's packed service in the village of Obdam north of Amsterdam "did not do justice to the sacred nature of the Eucharist." 
 
 Vlaar wore an orange robe and decorated the church with orange flags. During the service he acted as a goalkeeper when a parishioner kicked a football down the aisle. 
 
 The bishop said the service "caused outrage" in the Netherlands and overseas. He ordered Vlaar to enter "a period of reflection" and suspended him from his duties. 
 
 Vlaar was not available for comment on Friday, but Obdam Parish vice chairman Win Bijman said his congregation was "shocked and disappointed" by the popular priest's suspension. 
 
 "People do not understand it. Everybody supports Pastor Paul and we don't see what was so bad that he should be temporarily suspended," Bijman said in a telephone interview. 
 
 "Maybe we allowed ourselves to be swept along a little too much in the Oranje euphoria," he added, referring to the Dutch football team. "But it is part of Pastor Paul's personality that he manages to harness that kind of enthusiasm to get people into church. The church here is full and in other places churches are empty." 
 
 Vlaar's prayers went unanswered in the final: The Netherlands lost 1-0.
– A priest rolling around his church on a "hoverboard" while singing May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You on Christmas Eve earned a round of applause from his congregation and a quick suspension from his diocese, NBC News reports. It's unknown how the birthday boy felt about the whole thing. According to Sun Times, the unnamed priest's song-and-roll routine took place just before the end of mass at a church in the Philippines. Fortunately for those who couldn't be in attendance, the whole thing was caught on video. "That was wrong," Rappler quotes a statement from the Diocese of San Pablo as saying. “[Mass] is the Church’s highest form of worship. Consequently, it is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of the people.” The priest's suspension was announced Tuesday, with the diocese stating that the priest is repentant and views the incident as a "wake-up call," Sun Times reports. "[He] will spend some time to reflect on this past event," reads the diocese's statement. "He would like to apologize for what happened.” A group advocating for a return to the traditional Latin mass used the priest's hoverboard jaunt as evidence of the further degradation of Catholic worship. "This calls for a reparation," the group posted on Facebook. According to NBC, so-called hoverboards were one of the most gifted items this Christmas. But Rappler reports they are facing a possible ban in the Philippines. (Even shoplifters are getting in on the trend.)