The book was written by a Vatican insider , Slawomir Oder , with Italian journalist Saverio Gaeta of the Catholic weekly Christian Family . ` ` Why he is a Saint : The True Story of John Paul II '' also says he slept on a bare mattress . Pope used ` ` a particular leather - belt '' to beat himself , he says . John Paul wrote an apostolic letter on suffering in prison . Journalist compares it to suicide or other forms of self - sacrifice .
` ` Why he is a Saint : The True Story of John Paul II '' also says he slept on a bare mattress . Pope used ` ` a particular leather - belt '' to beat himself , he says . John Paul wrote an apostolic letter on suffering in prison . Journalist compares it to suicide or other forms of self - sacrifice .