Well, I guess if you’re not lucky enough to have a Siberian gulag in your adopted country, you have to induce suffering, presumably to gain insight into something or other and to make yourself a better person. Maybe. Or make yourself feel less guilty about something. Or maybe not.
But that’s not how Catholics view this.
See this thread, there was a good discussion on the same:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2450213/posts