Why Pope John Paul II Whipped Himself
Pope John Paul II projected a warm, grandfatherly image to the adoring public who flocked en masse to hear his homilies or watched on TV from home as he traversed the globe. So there was no small shock when a recent book revealed that the pope, who died in 2005, whipped himself with a belt and sometimes lay prostrate all night on the floor.
The pope apparently did not want aides to investigate his sleeping habits, going so far as to make his bed appear used by tossing around the sheets. Yet Monsignor Slawomir Oder, who is presenting John Paul II's case for canonization, detailed the behavior in an Italian-language book, Why He's a Saint: The Real John Paul II According to the Postulator of His Beatification Cause. Oder explains that the pope believed these acts of penance would affirm God's primacy and help him seek perfection. While self-inflicted physical suffering is unusual among Catholics, other notables have pursued holiness in this manner. Mother Teresa wore a cilice, a strap secured around the thigh that inflicts pain with inward-pointing spikes. Catholics are quick to point out, however, that these practices bear little resemblance to the bloody, masochistic flogging so graphically portrayed in the movie based on Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.
So how do Catholics explain self-flagellation, a practice so foreign to Protestants, let alone non-Christians? Several writers have defended the late pope. Writing for the National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin faults a "pleasure-obsessed culture" for portraying the pope's behavior as repulsive.
"Self-mortification teaches humility by making us recognize that there are things more important than our own pleasure," Akin writes. "It teaches compassion by giving us a window into the sufferings of others—who don't have a choice in whether they're suffering. And it strengthens self-control. As well as (here's the big one I've saved for last) encouraging us to follow the example of Our Lord, who made the central act of the Christian religion one of self-denial and (in his case) literal mortification to bring salvation to all mankind."
Indeed, the pope believed suffering brought him closer to Christ, according to Oder. For precedent, the pope appealed to Colossians 1:24, where the apostle Paul writes, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." With no parallel in the New Testament, this verse has vexed biblical commentators for centuries. Surveying the Old Testament apocalyptic literature, Peter O'Brien understands "what is lacking" to mean that God has appointed a measure of suffering before the end comes. Paul's suffering on behalf of the Colossians, whom he never even met, helped to fill that gap. The suffering he endured for the sake of the gospel in his apostolic ministry united him with other Christians and even Christ himself, who suffered untold anguish on the Cross.
Yet for all the hardship he bore (2 Cor. 11:16-32), Paul did not harm himself in pursuit of this union. Suffering found him, and he even pleaded unsuccessfully with God to relent (2 Cor. 12:7-10). God allowed this suffering in order that he might demonstrate his power in Paul's weakness. Whether we seek suffering or not, aging does the same by inflicting hardship on nearly all of us. Does our theology prepare us to endure? As John Paul II aged, Parkinson's disease visibly ravaged his once-vigorous body. He even considered resigning, something no modern pope has done, even though Catholic bishops usually retire at age 75. Politics Daily columnist David Gibson points out that the agonizing end to John Paul II's life deserves more attention than his private suffering.
Star Trek Into Darkness
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believer
Implicit in the commandment "Thy shalt not Kill" is suicide, and abuse of the human body which is a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is one thing to suffer from sickness, accidents or the evil acts of others which in His wisdom and for His purpose God allows to happen and quite another for any man to desecrate or abuse himself, be it with drugs, alchohol or physical punishment. I am not referring to fasting or other forms of normal penance. The Pope's behavior could have been his self-imposed penance for the decades old clergy sex-abuse which he had to be aware of and for his inability to get all of the bishops to join him in consecrating Russia to the Immaculte heart of Mary as requested at Fatima. Russia is not converted and we have not seen the period of world peace She promised if her request was fulfilled.
****
In my understanding, the legitimate self-inflicted suffering is fasting, to show mourning for sin. By starving our flesh, we expel demons who may have entered, via demonic food, to satisfy their cravings in us. The practice of ritual self-flagellation goes back to a very ancient cult of Baal. They whipped and beat themselves to honor the life-cycle of their god, who eventually overcame death. Jesus blessed those who mourn, and James told us to weep and wail and mourn for our sins, with both men probably referring to the same attitude of continual remorse. This befits all true Christians, for our many failings. It is not appropriate to brush things off lightly. In portions of the early church not influenced by Paul’s atonement theories, you can find texts that lack any notion of a vicarious righteousness attained by Christ suffering for us. Instead, a couple of them state that we should give alms to the poor, or fast, or pray, for remission of sin.
Louis
Hansen's article is on the whole good, however he appears to have not done enough homework. Self-flagellation, where blood is sometimes shed, is also practiced by some Muslims during Ramadan. It comes from the belief, that Christians also share, that only God is good and we humans are all sinners.