An Evil System

I never again want to be any part of a system that does injury to the most sacred right of a human being.
- The Most Rev. Albert Ottenweller, 2nd Bishop of Steubenville

In late November of 1991 on the feast of Christ the King- Bishop Albert Ottenweller held a healing liturgy for any present or former members of the Sword of the Spirit Covenant Community, the Servants of Christ the King. During this liturgy he shredded into several pieces a "Covenant1" of the Sword of the Spirit. None of us in attendance had any idea that this was going to happen, but it was a very satisfying event for many. Some in attendance wept, some laughed. It was Michael Beach who caught the moment on film. (Photography and letter below.) The Covenant of the Sword of the Spirit had become an overwhelming burden for the People of God in Steubenville, with its emphasis on performance and submission and not the mercy, love and kindness of God. For there was no mercy for the men and women who could not, live the life of the Sword of the Spirit. There was only a door to the street. And after leaving good jobs, good friends and beloved family to move across the country to this small Ohio community, the idea of leaving after having made such sacrifices was not a viable option. When he shreded the Covenant of the Sword of the Spirit, Bishop Ottenweller symbolically reclaimed his rightful place as the Pastor of the Servants of Christ the King. His position had been quietly and surreptitiously taken from him by the pastoral leaders of the Sword of the Spirit. As members of the Servants of Christ the King (a full government branch of the Sword of the Spirit), we had been told all along that Bishop Ottenweller had seen all the teachings and approved of the life of the community.2 This turned out not to be true. The Sword of the Spirit had come to believe that misleading or under-informing person outside the community was as an acceptable way of life. Later, when I read the notes from The Training Course,3 I would see the policy that held up such a manipulation of human honesty. In the document Death Oath of the Sword of the Spirit4, the very last item was: We will keep our plans hidden from the enemy and their agents. As early as 1982 the community had devised a plan (from the Sword of the Spirit Training Course) on how to communicate with people outside the community5. Information about the life and/or teachings of the community was presented in nuanced, watered-down terms so as not to be misunderstood, according to the teaching. But it was also because people had not yet been through two years of teachings, service and personal, pastoral formation within the community. Only after such conditioning would people not become alarmed by what the community believed.
1 2

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20286961/Covenants-of-Sword-of-the-Spirit-Servants-of-God-s-Love-Servants-of-Christ-the-King All the teachings and all the outlines and the tapes have been given to the Bishop and he knows about them, and approves. Fr Michael Scanlan, Senior Coordinator of the Servants of Christ the King and Sword of the Spirit Council Member, 1982 1990; via cassette tape recorded at a Community Gathering of Servants, January 1991. 3 http://www.scribd.com/doc/99711118/The-Complete-Training-Course-of-the-Sword-of-the-Spirit-1982 4 http://www.scribd.com/doc/56950055/Death-Oath-of-the-Sword-of-the-Spirit 5 http://www.scribd.com/doc/98666774/SOCK1982-Communicating-to-People-Outside-the-Community

By the time families had processed through these first two years of teachings, service and pastoral care, and then made important financial decisions about real estate, employment, or business, the idea of leaving the community seemed impossible. To finish off the dynamic, life in Servants was hard coated in iron clad, spiritually reinforced direction about, what God was saying to the community. The Doom and Gloom prophecies (pg 2, SOS Policy Notebook6) suggested that stepping outside the community was an act of self destruction for you and your family. Societal collapse was a matter of years, not decades. With all these layers wrapped around a member and their family, Covenant Community encircled a person and enslaved them, nourishing itself on their income, service and loyalty. No new member was ever given a copy of the Sword of the Spirit Policy Notebook. Even covenanted members below the position of Coordinator were denied access to this important information which lay bare the core beliefs and purposes of the Sword of the Spirit in clear, nuance-free terms. This document could have easily informed others of exactly what lay before them when making hugely significant decisions about leaving parishes, jobs, friends and family to join the Catholic covenant community in Steubenville. Yet The Servants of Christ the King was never really a Catholic Covenant Community at all. The covenant community was designed to look Catholic, wearing its canonical relationship with the local Bishop as both armor against critics and a guarantee of legitimacy to its members. But beneath this veneer of pseudo-credibility it was the Sword of the Spirit that was the secret Magesterium that wrote the teachings and designed the pastoral life of the Servants of Christ the King. . After the healing liturgy during a reception, Bishop Ottenweller was involved in listening to some of the members tell even more of their experiences. There was a moment of silence as we reflected on all that had happened. Then Bishop Ottenweller said, "It is an evil system."

John Flaherty Grand Island, NE Revised and expanded August 26, 2013

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19142540/sword-of-the-spirit-policy-notebook-0001