LETTERS: FATE OF SEMINARY SITE IS UP TO THE PEOPLE

To the editor:

The Southeast Missourian's Aug. 13 issue carried a front-page article concerning a Center for the Study of American Democracy proposed by me. The article has raised some questions which I wish to address. What was proposed was an idea, not a fully developed concept.

With deference to Dr. Peter Bergerson and his comments, my proposal has no direct concern with studying public policy, the reform of the structures of our government nor the analysis of the political dynamics of our country.

My proposal concerns a seemingly forgotten aspect of American life. It is the most basic consideration. President Lincoln summed it up stating that American government is of, by and for the people. Today that statement is enough to prompt one to smile cynically or to cry out with rage. The people have long ago given up to elected officials the task of governing America. The elected officials have delegated much of their governing power to bureaus, commissions and agencies. As a result, responsibility for truly governing is not at all clear.

How many Americans know the meaning and responsibilities of citizenship? Who knows that patriotism is more than waving a flag as a parade passes? Citizenship popularly has a value measured by the dollar amount one might derive from the largess of government. To think of a citizen as serving one's country is by no means a habitual state of mind.

I never wanted or expected the Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation to purchase the seminary site and, along with the city, provide a place for the Center for the Study of American Democracy. With a sincere apology to my loyal friends on the foundation board, I would prefer that the board not purchase the seminary property for use by the center.

I had hoped in due time to put forth a challenge that the citizens of Cape Girardeau might with one voice say that the stewardship of the St. Vincent Seminary shall pass to the Center for the Study of American Democracy, which shall see that the Vincentian community will be given a just price for its property. Funds for the purchase would be derived from gifts by the people of Cape Girardeau and from good citizens far and wide.

If this is not done, the site will surely fall into the hands of commercial developers, and St. Vincent Seminary will be only a memory. Without the center and the funds it would generate, the seminary structure could probably not be restored and maintained. Without the seminary site, much of the rationale for the center in that place would be lost. My formal proposal establishes that point.

As of Aug. 14, I entrust my proposal for a Center for the Study of American Democracy to the citizens of Cape Girardeau. I never intended to establish the center or administer it.

These are the matters about which my proposal is concerned. The object is not academic research or a mere rehash of past insights. The object is seeking simple, practical ways of helping American people to understand that if they do not become responsible citizens, their country will erode away. To study American democracy, one must study the people as well as the government.

Concerning St. Vincent Seminary, it was Dr. Solzhenitsyn who so aptly described Cape Girardeau, a city in the Midwest on the bank of a river, as a peaceful setting where American democracy, still an experiment in self-government, might be given new life and a more heartfelt embrace. A mother country that sustains the life of her citizens must also herself be cherished from time to time. This seems to be such a time, as I have been told by several persons whose opinions I value.

But Cape Girardeau is not a quiet, peaceful, small midwestern town. It is not a place where citizens easily and enthusiastically assemble to discern the common good and promote it. Government and economic blocs in the city have fomented discord and personal animosity for much too long. The sale-purchase process of the seminary site has been adversely affected by this factor. If the citizens of Cape Girardeau were deeply aware that they ultimately are called to determine what will transpire in their home town, they would have risen up long ago. Instead, the blaming game is being played. It is the most secure way of establishing a climate in which all manner of issues might be privately decided which are opposed to the common good. It is a situation in which the individual, personal will can be indulged.

MONSIGNOR JOSEPH GOSCHE, Pastor

St. Michael Catholic Church

Fredericktown

EDITOR'S NOTE: Monsignor Gosche is a former pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Cape Girardeau and was instrumental in the restoration project at Old St. Vincent's Catholic Church in downtown Cape Girardeau.