Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: The Studied Silence of American Catholic Conservatives

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture, Jul 31, 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.

Those of us who lived through the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s understand the gradual breakdown of taboos. Playful rock and roll music (“I want to hold your hand”) devolved over the years into drug-crazed acid rock and even rape lyrics (don’t ask). When we heard the lyrics (always a bit difficult to discern), our first response was denial: the words couldn’t mean what we initially thought they meant. Similarly, most conservative American Catholics refuse to acknowledge our immoral actions during war or those of Israel. At least, not yet.

There are historical reasons to cause American Catholic discomfort. Americans have a history of military excesses, usually justified as perceived necessities: Hiroshima, Dresden, the carpet bombings in Vietnam. General Curtis LeMay famously said, “Killing Japanese didn’t bother me very much at that time… I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.” ….

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