Taking Jesus literally: Easter crucifixions in the Philippines – The Global Mail (Main Forum)

Liz (Billy), sent me a BBC Horizon video link a while ago entitled "Parallel Universes". I'm about half way through watching it as I type this. The documentary is entitled "Parallel Universes" and provides insights into the latest developments in Physics.

I have never been one to want to junk the great stories of scripture as mere fairy tales and without any foundation. My criticism has always been against trying to literalise those things which are mythological. The ancients did have insights, for example in the concepts of the natural and the supernatural, or concepts like heaven, hell and purgatory — some concept of "higher dimensions" or "parallel universes". Like Teilhard de Chardin, I believe, if we could find some synthesis between the insights we're gaining today through the frontiers of science — the sort of discussion taking place in this documentary — and theological insights, it would be hugely beneficial for humankind.

Thanks Liz for drawing my attention to this documentary and I commend it to all of you on Catholica. Is this the "radical alternative" to people trying to "crucify" themselves on crosses believing that leads them somehow closer to the thinking of Jesus Christ?

Brian Coyne
[Editor & Publisher]

Opus Dei members practice self mortification including the wearing of the cilice.
It is now believed that Jesus did not have nails driven through the palm of his hands but rather through his wrists. Nails in the palm would not support the weight of the body, moreover nails in the wrist would be more painful and the Roman soldiers were interested in causing pain. Artists however had painted the crucifixion with the nails piercing the palms and some misguided individuals mutilate themselves in that manner. Padre Pio had the stigmata in the palms of his hands. Some viewed this as self inflicted. Wickipedia states:

"The founder of Milan's Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, friar, physician and psychologist Agostino Gemelli, who met Padre Pio once, for a few minutes, but was unable to examine his stigmata,[18] concluded Padre Pio was "an ignorant and self-mutilating psychopath who exploited people's credulity."[19] In short, he was accused of infractions against all three of his monastic vows: poverty, chastity and obedience.[20][unreliable source?] Agostino Gemelli also speculated that Padre Pio kept his wounds open with carbolic acid. As a result of the Gemelli assessment, the wounds were wrapped in cloth. According to believers, the bleeding continued for some 50 years until they closed within hours of his death.[20]

"On 29 July 1960, an Italian monsignore, Carlo Maccari, who later became the archbishop of Ancona, began yet another investigation on behalf of Pope John XXIII and the Holy Office. The 200-page report he compiled, though never published in full, is said to be devastatingly critical. Vatican gossip long had it that the “Maccari dossier” was an insuperable obstacle to Padre Pio’s sainthood. According to official Capuchin literature, however, Maccari later recanted and prayed to Padre Pio on his deathbed.[20]"

Padre Pio was canonized by JPII. Looks like mutilation is with us for the forseeable future.