Understanding The Misleading Claims Of Vandalism Against French Churches

The spread of misinformation on social media can create a false narrative about events that may not reflect reality. A recent claim circulating online suggests that a map displaying attacks on churches in France accurately represents a surge in vandalism and destruction. However, closer inspection reveals that the narrative is not only misleading but also rooted in a broader context of misinformation that can fuel unnecessary panic and division.

On September 15, 2024, a post on social media asserted that churches in France had been "burned or vandalized" in recent years, implying a coordinated effort against these establishments. This claim was echoed by multiple users across platforms like X and Reddit, which further perpetuated the idea that these incidents were part of a larger, sinister trend. It's essential to scrutinize such claims, especially in the light of social media's role in spreading unverified information.

The origins of this map can be traced back to a website dedicated to tracking acts labeled as "Christianophobia." While the map includes various incidents, it conflates serious crimes like arson with minor acts of vandalism, such as graffiti. This broad categorization leads to a skewed perception that all incidents are equally severe, which is not the case.

Social media users are sharing a map with the false claim it shows French churches "destroyed," "vandalized" or "attacked" in "recent years." On Sept. 15, 2024, an X (archive) post with the map claimed, "Churches burned or vandalized in France in recent years. We all know it's not random." At least two other posts — one on X (archive) and another on Reddit (archive) posts — made the same claim in September 2024.

The map often spreads in the wake of large fires at French churches that make global headlines. According to the Catholic News Agency, a historic church in the French town Saint-Omer was damaged in a fire on Sept. 2. That outlet alleged it was arson.

We first observed the map spreading across social media platforms after the Notre Dame cathedral caught fire in April 2019. In July 2024, posts started to spread the map once again as a fire that was later contained broke out on the spire of a French cathedral.

When we fact-checked the claim in 2019, we found posts blamed the Notre Dame fire on Muslims and connected the incident (which authorities reportedly said was likely an accident at the time) to churches that had been recently vandalized in France.

Social media posts containing the claim in 2024 continued to baselessly blame Muslims for the incidents documented on the map. One X account commented on a post that contained the map: "This will only get worse. Those Islamists will first burn churches, then murder Christians and Jews."

However, those claims weren't true. In 2019, we found this map came from christianophobie.fr, a website dedicated to tracking acts of "Christianophobia" in France and the rest of the world.

While this image is often shared as if it shows all of the churches that were "destroyed" in France, the map actually documented a wide range of nefarious activity — such as vandalism, theft, and arson — that occurred at both churches and cemeteries over an apparent span of two years covering 2017 and 2018.

It should also be noted that while this map documented some relatively serious crimes, such as arson or the toppling of church statues, many of these pins corresponded to graffiti-related incidents. We also found one pin related to a person simply interrupting a church service.

We've fact-checked other claims about French churches before, like whether photographs authentically showed the real skull of Mary Magdalene inside a gold reliquary.