Am I obligated to protest in front of abortion clinics as a Catholic? Corrected

[jjohnssmith97]

I recently joined a church group and I am required to attend eight of their activities. For some reason, there are only eight activities I can attend so I am obligated to attend them all. One of these activities is praying outside of an abortion clinic. The entire church group goes to an abortion clinic, sits outside, and prays. My son is also a part of this group and is required to protest as well. My son is required to attend for CCD to make his confirmation. I am required to go with my son because hecklers usually come and yell at the protesters. Neither of us want to go do this activity. I believe abortion is wrong but I don’t believe in sitting outside a clinic and praying. It seems like I would be judging others and what point would praying in front of the clinic serve when I can pray from home? It just seems wrong. I’m going to tell the group leader that I don’t want to participate but first I was wondering if, as a catholic, I am obligated to protest in front of this clinic.
Thank you very much

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

Come on, it’s not that you don’t BELIEVE in praying the rosary at an abortion clinic. You don’t want to do it because it is uncomfortable for you. Your son obviously knows that you don’t like to do this. You now have a great opportunity to show him that anything worth praying for, is worth sacrificing for. Putting others first and ourselves second, is the way of love. Show him what maturity is!

Some one wrote and mentioned that I got so caught up in my verbiage, that I didn’t actually answer the question. This is true and I apologize. Here it is: Such situations can get dicey and it is understandable that you are worried about your safety. Such protests should be voluntary and certainly, one is not morally obligated to participate in them.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.