Stop the Church was a demonstration organized by members of
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...
(ACT UP) on December 10, 1989, that disrupted a
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
being said by Cardinal
John O'Connor at
St. Patrick's Cathedral in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. One-hundred and eleven protesters were arrested, 53 of whom were arrested inside the church. The main objective of the demonstration was to protest O'Connor's opposition to the teaching of
safe sex
Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer se ...
in the public school system, and his opposition to the distribution of
condom
A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...
s to curb the spread of
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
.
During planning, the protest was joined by
Women's Health Action and Mobilization
Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) was an American activist organization based in New York City, established in 1989 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in ''Webster v. Reproductive Health Services'' that states may bar the use ...
(WHAM!), who opposed the Catholic position on
abortion rights
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
.
The protest was condemned in media editorials and by national figures such as President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, and was controversial in the gay community. The protest, and especially the
desecration of the Eucharist, made headline news in the US and several European countries.
The protest was a major effort for ACT-UP.
Background
ACT UP opposed the public position of the church on condom use and safe sex education to control the spread of
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
, and identified pronouncements such as O'Connor's statement that "Good morality is good medicine" as harmful. The protest was organized following a meeting of senior clergy where they had reinforced doctrine opposing the use of condoms. ACT UP nicknamed the cleric "Cardinal O'Condom." They also opposed the church's
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
position. In the 1980s, O'Connor wielded a great deal of power in both the church and in society at large.
WHAM! subsequently joined the protest, swelling its numbers and adding the issue of
abortion rights
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
.
Protest
Stop the Church was held on December 10, 1989, at
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
The idea had originated with ACT UP members Vincent Gagliostro and Victor Mendolia. Cardinal
John O'Connor was celebrating a
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
attended by Mayor
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
and other political leaders.
Koch and the other dignitaries attended as a sign of support to O'Connor.
The protesters had indicated in advance that they planned to protest. While pretending to be church ushers, some handed out flyers explaining why they would disrupt the service to those entering the catherdral.
The crowd outside grew to 4,500 people.
The demonstrators stood outside the cathedral shouting and raising placards that read "Eternal life to Cardinal O'Connor now," "Know your scumbags," "Curb your
dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
," "Papal Bull," and the like.
Some tried to "storm" the church, but police stopped those who were obvious protesters from entering.
Plainclothes police officers, expecting trouble, were sitting in the pews during Mass.
At the outset of Mass, O'Connor said he knew there were a number of protesters in attendance but asked for a peaceful service.
Originally, the plan was a silent protest with a "die-in" during the
homily
A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...
portion of the Mass.
When it appeared that the protest was having little effect on O'Connor, who continued on with Mass,
Michael Petrelis stood on a pew and shouted, "You bigot O'Connor, you're killing us!"
The cathedral then descended into "pandemonium."
A few dozen activists interrupted Mass, chanted slogans, blew whistles, "kept up a banshee screech," chained themselves to pews, threw condoms in the air, waved their fists, and lay down in the aisles to stage a "die-in."
Ann Northrop
Ann Northrop (born 1948 in Hartford, ConnecticutSchulman, Sarah. (28 May 2003Ann Northrop InterviewACT UP Oral History Project. Accessed 13 April 2007.) is a journalist and activist, and the current co-host of TV news program ''Gay USA''.
Early l ...
was inside the Cathedral and said, "I happened to be the last person carried out, and by that time, everything had calmed down and was silent. So I started saying — and it was ringing through the cathedral — 'We're fighting for your lives, too. We're fighting for your lives, too.'"
O'Connor asked worshipers to "pay no attention to" those disrupting the Mass. The organist also played in an attempt to drown the protesters out.
One protester, Tom Keane, took the consecrated
communion wafer
Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...
(
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
) from the priest, crumbled it into pieces, and dropped the pieces to the floor.
He then lay on the floor of the church in an attempt to prevent others from receiving
Communion and was later arrested.
Keane's
desecration of the Eucharist became the biggest news story in the days to come.
Years later, Keane said he decided to act in the moment and, while in hindsight he might not have repeated the act, he felt no regret.
Reaction
One-hundred and eleven protesters were arrested, including 43 inside the church.
Some, who refused to move, had to be carried out of the church on stretchers.
Only minor charges were filed, punished primarily by
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...
sentences; some protesters who refused the sentences were tried, but did not serve jail time.
The protests were condemned by politicians and editorials in the major daily newspapers. Some in the gay community also considered that invading the privacy of worship was at odds with the gay community's arguments on sexual privacy.
Mayor
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
viewed it as disrespectful and New York Governor
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as t ...
"deplored the demonstration." The cathedral protest was criticized as "stupid and wrong-headed" by
Andy Humm, a spokesman for the
Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Rights, while one ACT UP leader,
Peter Staley
Peter Staley (born January 9, 1961) is an American political activist, known primarily for his work in HIV/AIDS activism. As an early and influential member of ACT UP, New York, he founded both the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the education ...
, denounced the protest as an "utter failure" and a "selfish, macho thing."
During its planning, members of ACT UP were divided on the wisdom of the protest with some saying that protest should not target worshipers; others said it was more important to gain attention than it was to avoid offending the people attending the Mass.
Shortly after the protest,
Larry Kramer
Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to Lo ...
,
Robert Garcia,
Ann Northrop
Ann Northrop (born 1948 in Hartford, ConnecticutSchulman, Sarah. (28 May 2003Ann Northrop InterviewACT UP Oral History Project. Accessed 13 April 2007.) is a journalist and activist, and the current co-host of TV news program ''Gay USA''.
Early l ...
,
Mark Harrington, and Peter Staley appeared on a television panel to discuss the protest, where they faced oftentimes hostile questions from the audience.
Legacy
O'Connor
ministered to those dying at an
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
hospice, bathing them and changing their bedpans,
and supported others who did so.
He also stated that he would never object to anyone peacefully protesting outside the cathedral, which had happened before, but did object to disrupting Mass and especially to the acts of desecration.
The protest became one of ACT UP's most well known actions. Protests at the cathedral continued for the next few years, though they were smaller and less disruptive. In 1992, another woman crumbled the consecrated communion wafer (Eucharist), but it was unclear if the action was tied to the larger protest. O'Connor feared, however, that it would start a trend.
Robert Hilferty
Robert Hilferty (December 14, 1959 – July 24, 2009) was an American journalist, filmmaker, and AIDS activist based in New York City.
Career
Hilferty began his career in 1988 working as a production assistant for Robert Altman on ''The Cai ...
's
documentary about the protest, ''Stop the Church'', was originally scheduled to air on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
. The film was eventually dropped from national broadcast by PBS, but still aired on
public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
stations in several major cities including
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
The documentary used footage filmed "guerrilla-style" by Hilferty, an ACTUP member.
"ACT UP activists now say the St. Patrick's protest changed the way many Americans viewed the Catholic Church. It was no longer untouchable, and its policies – on everything from condoms and abortion to gay marriage and women priests – were no longer sacrosanct."
Filmmaker
Jim Hubbard, a member of ACT UP and director of the documentary ''
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP,'' said, "I wasn't clear about what going inside the church would add at the time. But now I think that the shock of going inside and confronting the cardinal really worked. It helped bring ACT UP to mainstream attention. It brought the crisis to a point where the government and the mainstream media really had to start dealing with it."
In June 2019, the main characters of the television series ''
Pose
Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take.
There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning.
*''Position'' is a gen ...
'', radicalized by members of their community now fighting AIDS,
participate in the Stop the Church action and are arrested.
See also
*
Eucharist in the Catholic Church
Eucharist ( grc-gre, εὐχαριστία, eucharistía, thanksgiving) here refers to Holy Communion or the Body and Blood of Christ, which is consumed during the Catholic Mass or Eucharistic Celebration. "At the Last Supper, on the night he ...
*
HIV/AIDS activism
Social activism, Social and Political protest, political activism to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, as well as to raise funds for treatment of HIV/AIDS, effective treatment and care of people with AIDS (PWAs), has taken place in multiple nations ...
*
Anti-Catholicism in the United States
Anti-Catholicism in the United States concerns the anti-Catholic attitudes first brought to the Thirteen Colonies by Protestant European settlers, composed mostly of English Puritans, during the British colonization of North America (16th–17th ...
References
Works cited
*
*
*{{cite book, last=Petro, first=Anthony Michael , title=After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPoJCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282, access-date=May 11, 2020, year=2015, publisher=Oxford University Press, isbn=978-0-19-939128-8
Criticism of the Catholic Church
LGBT and Catholicism
Catholicism-related controversies
HIV/AIDS activism
LGBT history in New York City
December 1989 events in the United States
1989 in New York City
1980s in Manhattan
1989 in LGBT history