What? Pope John Paul II Beat Himself With a Belt

Book: Pope John Paul II self-flagellated to get closer to Jesus

By Richard Allen Greene and Hada Messia, CNN

January 27, 2010 4:38 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- Pope John Paul II used to beat himself with a belt and sleep naked on the floor to bring himself closer to Christ, a book published Wednesday says.

The late pope had a particular belt for self-flagellation and brought it with him to his summer residence, according to the book, "Why he is a Saint: The True story of John Paul II."

"As some members of his own entourage were able to hear with their own ears, both in Poland and in the Vatican, Karol Wojtyla flagellated himself," the book says, using the name the pope was given at birth.

"In the closet, among the cloaks, a particular pant-belt hung from a hook, which he utilized as a whip and one which he always had brought to Castel Gandolfo," the book says.

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Of course, the first thing that came to mind here was: he what? Once I realized what self-flagellation was, naturally, the albino monk in The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown came to mind.

Accepted as a religious practice among The Catholic Church, I still think it's pretty strange. A lot of Catholic/Christian religious practices that I am aware of are when I think about it. For example, drinking the pretend blood of Christ, eating the "body" of Christ (wishful cannibalism?), confessing your sins to a man, though I could have sworn (oops, swearing is a no-no), that I read in the Bible that "a man need not confess his sins to another man", err...or something like that.

Isn't the body supposed to be a temple? So, why beat yourself with a belt? I fail to see the way in which that would bring one closer to Christ. Perhaps I am not meant to understand that. Fasting confuses me as well since that is not good for the body either. I have no reason to doubt that he was a holy man. I just happened to read this article today and thought I would offer my thoughts.

I'm not a stranger to the Catholic Church. I attended one for several years. I'm also a person of religious tolerance. One thing is for certain, organized religion is too big of a subject for me to delve into at the moment. I am sure I will have more to say about that later.