On the night of 27-28 July, vandals severely damaged a statue of Mary located at the entrance to the village of Kościuk. The statue's hands were cut off, a hole was punched in its head, its eyes were gouged out and its face destroyed. This was not the first act of vandalism against a religious object in the region.
Joshua Sutcliffe, a Christian maths teacher, lost his High Court appeal case after being banned from teaching for "misgendering" a pupil. The judge said that “just because misgendering a transgender pupil might not be unlawful does not mean that it is appropriate conduct for a teacher.”
On 22 July 2024, Scotland's highly restrictive abortion 'buffer zone' law came into force, creating a 200-metre zone around abortion facilities where it will be an offence to 'influence' the decision of anyone entering the facility. Offences include acts committed on private property if the act “is capable of being seen or heard by another person who is within the safe access zone“.
On 24 July, a 57-year-old man knocked over a historic altar in the Catholic St Andrew's Church on Fischmarkt. The damage is estimated at tens of thousands of euros. Investigators are still trying to establish the background to the crime.
According to an opinion poll by the think tank “Logos” published in The Herald on July 23, Christians in Scotland feel “excluded”. More than 70% feel the Scottish Government does not support them and 75% were concerned about abuse against Christian politicians.
In the night of Saturday, July 20 to Sunday, July 21, vandals defaced the façade of the church of Saint-Paul in Orne, France, with satanist graffiti. The tags included inverted crosses, pentagrams, and writings such as ‘False God’, ‘Liar’, and the number ‘666’, symbolising the devil. The statues on the façade were also sprayed with red paint, adding to the seriousness of the damage.
On Sunday, July 21, a 46-year-old woman was arrested in Tudela, Navarra, after threatening the priest who was officiating the Sunday mass and the congregation with a cutter. According to the Municipal Police of Tudela, the woman not only threatened with the cutter, but also broke the glass of the entrance door of the church by throwing a stone. This act of vandalism increased the level of alarm among those present, who quickly called the authorities.
On 19 July, St Mary's Church and Cemetery in Baldock was vandalised by an unknown offender, with the Rector, Rev Phillipa Maddox, reporting that 'all the windows and doors' of the church hall had been smashed. Several gravestones in the churchyard were also damaged. Police are searching for the culprits.
A Swiss couple is taking legal action after their 16-year-old daughter was taken away from the parents and put into a government shelter due to the parents' objection to the daughter's "gender transitioning". The parents also said that doctors have been trying to administer puberty blockers to their daughter without their consent. The case has sent shockwaves around the world and raises severe concerns over the protection of parental rights, including for Christians objecting to the transitioning of their children.
Between Sunday, July 14 and Monday, July 15, vandals broke into the Parisian Notre-Dame-du-Travail Church, vandalised the building and left a number of Islamic anti-Christian graffiti, like "Submit yourselves to Allah infidels" and a knife planted in the throat of a statue of Mary.