prayer lives; one Dominican scholar has expressed doubts about her critical description of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the first of her two entries on him. In another posthumous text, Kreuz und Hölle, von Speyr relates her experiences of the Passion and of the descent into Hell, giving illustrations of the metaphysical nature of damnation as isolation and "total depersonalization," in Professor Matthew Sutton's phrase. Some scholars have interpreted these visions as suggesting universalism, or a belief that Hell is empty, but other scholars insist that this is a misreading of the text; Hans Urs von Balthasar himself rejects the universalist reading, understanding von Speyr's experience of Hell as "so real that, in view of it, it would be ridiculous and blasphemous to speak of the nonexistence of hell or even just of apokatastasis [universalism] in the 'systematic' sense." There are critics who dispute the authenticity of von Speyr's visions on other grounds, citing features such as apparent changes of personality and voice and the use of sarcasm, although von Balthasar, who originally related these phenomena, believes these episodes had a pedagogical purpose, to form him in humility as a spiritual director. Reception and influence In 1985, the Vatican hosted a colloquium on "Adrienne von Speyr e la sua missione ecclesiale" [Adrienne von Speyr and her ecclesial mission], with presentations by Angelo Scola, Antonio Sicari, Marc Ouellet, Joseph Fessio, SJ and others. Pope John Paul II said in his closing address to the participants:I would like to take this opportunity to greet the members of the Community of Saint John, which owes its very foundation to a sublime inspiration on the part of Adrienne. She had a special love for “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” the last, most profound expositor, as she saw him, of the mystery of Jesus, of the Father’s love for the world, and of the Holy Spirit whose sure hand guides us into the full light of the revelation of Father and Son. Her insight into the inmost communion of faith and love uniting the Mother of Jesus and the one disciple who persevered with her under the Cross was no less profound; it was here that she glimpsed the virginal origin of the Church that would be entrusted to Peter’s care. May this spirituality, which Adrienne embodied with such exemplary vigor, help you to incarnate ever better your own commitment to live in accord with Church