04-01-2016 15:00

Not your usual church sermon! This Catholic priest has been suspended for riding a hoverboard during Christmas Eve Mass in the Philippines. Father Albert San Jose’s rendition of a Christmas song seemed to have gone down well with churchgoers at the time, but has since received a mixed reaction.

The Diocese of San Pablo said the Filipino priest’s actions were wrong and that he is now out of the parish to take time to reflect. They hoped this would act as a wake-up call.

With 81% of the Filipino population defining themselves as Catholic, it is often the case that the country’s culture and society has had a close relationship with the teaching of the Church. On this occasion, however, Father Albert may be wishing he’d stayed at the altar.

Difficult words: sermon (a talk given as part of a Christian church service), hoverboard (an electric skateboard), rendition (a version of something), go down well (to get a good reaction from somebody), Diocese (the area under the control of a bishop – a religious person in charge of priests), parish (the area that a priest is responsible for, reflect (to think about something for a while), to stay at the altar (to stay up at the tall table at the front of the church).