Filipino priest grounded by Church for gliding on hoverboard during mass (VIDEO)

Hoverboards were trending as a must-have item this Christmas, but a priest in the Philippines found himself in hot water with the Church after demonstrating the use of one during mass.

A video, which has racked up over fourteen million views in three days, shows Father Albert San Jose from the Philippines Diocese of San Pablo standing on a hoverboard while singing during a Christmas Eve mass at the Lady of Miraculous Medal church in Biñan town.

While the parishioners seemed to enjoy the rather unorthodox approach, the stunt did not go down well with the priest’s bishop.

“That was wrong,” the archdiocese said in a statement released on Tuesday. “The Eucharist demands utmost respect and reverence. It is the Memorial of the Lord’s Sacrifice. It is the source and summit of Christian life.”

“It is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of the people,” the statement adds.

The archdiocese has also confirmed that Father San Jose has been temporarily removed from his duties at the parish, so that he can “spend some time to reflect on this past event.”

Father San Jose has apologized for the incident, describing it as “a wake-up call” and promising it “will not happen again.”

Social media has been divided on the issue, with some people failing to find anything wrong with a priest preaching from a hoverboard, while others argued that the stunt was distracting the parishioners from the very essence of mass, as well as providing an unnecessary display of wealth.

The rest simply wondered why on earth someone would use a hoverboard in a church.