I use spiked chain, says Catholic senator in Opus Dei Cult
Pastor Dale Morgan
I use spiked chain, says Catholic senator in Opus Dei Cult*
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 1:43am GMT 09/03/2007
One of the most senior Italian members of Opus Dei, the
ultra-conservative Catholic movement, has advocated the use of a vicious
spiked chain designed for self-torture in the name of God.
Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei
Founder of Opus Dei Josemaria Escriva stipulated self-harm is mandatory
Paola Binetti, a senator in the government, admitted in a television
interview that she has used a metal cilice, which is wrapped around the
upper thigh for two hours a day and leaves small pin-pricks.
"It forces us to reflect on the hardship of life and the sacrifices of
the mother who has to wake up in the night because her child is
wailing," she said.
Originally, a cilice was a hair-shirt, or any garment designed to cause
its wearer discomfort. The metal cilice is the most controversial of the
tools used by members of Opus Dei to inflict self-harm.
Generally, members of the order are reluctant to admit that they use
them and go as far as to avoid wearing swimming costumes around non-Opus
members. Recently, it was used by Brother Silas in the film of The Da
Vinci Code.
Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, stipulated that self-harm is
mandatory if one wishes to live the "Spirit of Opus Dei" fully.
In his book The Way, he wrote: "Blessed be pain. Loved be pain.
Sanctified be pain. . . glorified be pain!"
Aside from the metal cilice, some members of the Opus use a
"discipline", a whip that is used once a week on the back. They also
take cold showers, remain silent or fast.
Ms Binetti's admission was supported by several prominent Italian
Catholics. Vittorio Messori, the author of the official biography of
Pope John Paul II, said: "The world is full of people who, thanks to
God, freely choose their own type of suffering. The few times I have
seen a gym, it seemed full of instruments of torture."