New Book Reveals Pope John Paul II Self-Flagellated

Though villainous Catholic monks and other leaders have been depicted in the act of self-flagellation in the extreme, such as The Da Vinci Code's albino Silas, Pope John Paul II, renowned and respected even among non-Catholics worldwide, was known to self-flagellate, too.

This was revealed in a book that was released Wednesday titled Why He is a Saint: The True Story of John Paul II, which makes a case for the beloved pope to be canonized into sainthood. The book was written by Slawomir Oder, head of the Vatican committee to investigating whether to canonize the pope, and Italian journalist Saverio Gaeta, who writes for the weekly Christian Family.

The late leader, who died in 2005, used a specific pants belt that he kept with him in his travels. The act is not as extreme as it is usually depicted in popular media, and is not supposed to bring about bloodshed, but bring one closer to Christ through taking part in suffering.

Reverend Michael Barret, a priest of the Opus Dei sect, told CNN, "When members or former members [of Opus Dei] see the monk go at it in the movie, they just burst out laughing, it's so nutty. [...] This voluntarily accepted discomfort is a way of joining oneself to Jesus Christ and the sufferings he voluntarily accepted in order to redeem us from sin. The Da Vinci Code's masochist monk, who loves pain for its own sake, has nothing to do with real Christian mortification."

Another respected leader who self-flagellated was Mother Teresa, and some Shiite Muslims lash themselves to the point of bleeding to mark the mourning period of Ashura. The authors of the book approve of John Paul's actions and see it as another reason why he should be canonized.

The book is currently only available in Italian and is being translated into Polish, with other languages likely to follow.