` ` 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 floor . Pope used `` a particular pant-belt '' to beat himself , book says . John Paul wrote an apostolic letter on suffering in 1984 . Journalist compares flagellation to fasting or other forms of self-sacrifice .