Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: Principles and Prudential Judgments

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture, Aug 04, 2025

Fr. Jerry Pokorsky is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington who has also served as a financial administrator in the Diocese of Lincoln. Trained in business and accounting, he also holds a Master of Divinity and a Master’s in moral theology. Father Pokorsky co-founded both CREDO and Adoremus, two organizations deeply engaged in authentic liturgical renewal. He writes regularly for a number of Catholic websites and magazines. See full bio.

G.K. Chesterton said the reason we get angry is that we’ve never learned to argue well. Argument helps us to identify and solve conundrums, and directs efforts to maintain justice and overcome human suffering. Our ability to argue well includes the capacity to identify unwavering first principles for reasonable application, informed by prudential judgments.

The law of gravity is non-negotiable as a first principle of physics. We may try to defy the law, but gravity will always win. Rocket science only works by taking into account the law of gravity. So it is with morality. The Ten Commandments are the first principles of morality and are non-negotiable for human happiness. The Ten Commandments are not ideological. They express and direct our humanity, the marriage of God and man. God is the author of human nature. The Ten Commandments help us understand who we are and who we can become. …

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