suffering, especially suffering during the last moments of life, has a special place in God's saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ's passion and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which He offered in obedience to the Father's will.
That why the torturers of past apostates felt so good about their work, for they believed that the pain inflicted when tormenting someone to death actually shortened that one's time spend in purgatory, Torture, a "loving provision" like shunning, Faith on the March.