My boss in a former job, was a 'bishop' in the Mormon Church. He used to flagellate himelf and sit in a car during the hottest time of the day, with the windows closed. It's not just a 'Catholc' practice.
Now I’m thinking, if some people are desperate to hurt themselves for their faith, why don’t they do something productive?
They could carry around teething babies. They could clean up their incontinent elderly relatives. They could pull the poison ivy out of somebody’s backyard.
Wonder if the devil gets holy people sidetracked by getting them to do useless gestures like flagellating? Maybe he knows that if he didn’t suggest these activities, they’d be out there doing something challenging that actually helps somebody.
JPII is holy despite the self-mortification, not because of it.