Stop the Church was a demonstration organized by members of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) on December 10, 1989, that disrupted a Mass being said by Cardinal John O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

The protest was condemned in media editorials and by national figures such as President George H. W. Bush, and was controversial in the gay community.

[9] Cardinal John O'Connor was celebrating a Mass attended by Mayor Ed Koch and other political leaders.

While pretending to be church ushers, some handed out flyers explaining why they would disrupt the service to those entering the catherdral.

[1][12][10][4][13] 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," "Papal Bull," and the like.

[10] At the outset of Mass, O'Connor said he knew there were a number of protesters in attendance but asked for a peaceful service.

"[10][9] 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.

"[1][12][14][10][4] Ann Northrop 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.

[19] Mayor Ed Koch viewed it as disrespectful and New York Governor Mario Cuomo "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, denounced the protest as an "utter failure" and a "selfish, macho thing.

"[32] Robert Hilferty's documentary about the protest, Stop the Church, was originally scheduled to air on PBS.

"[3] In June 2019, the main characters of the television series Pose, radicalized by members of their community now fighting AIDS, participate in the Stop the Church action and are arrested.