WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Photos show churches in Europe set alight by Muslims.
OUR VERDICT
False. The photos show church fires in the US and Canada and there's no evidence Muslims were involved.
AAP FACTCHECK - Dramatic photos of North American churches on fire are being falsely labelled on social media as Muslim arson attacks in Europe.
The images show incidents in the US and Canada and there are no credible reports that Muslim people were involved.
The claim is in a Facebook post by an Australian-based user that showed a collage of 15 different churches ablaze.
"Multiculturalism in Europe," the post reads.
"Muslims are burning down the Churches & historic buildings all over Europe.
"This is what diversity looks like."
However, Google reverse image searches reveal none of the 15 churches is in Europe.
There is also no evidence that Muslim people were connected to any of the incidents.
The first image shows a fire at the vacant Grandview United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh on July 7, 2026.
Police arrested a 23-year-old named Colton Normand, who had been squatting in the building, according to CBS News.
The second image is of the Catholic Church of the Infant Jesus in northern Ontario, Canada, which closed down in 1997.
CBC reported that the church was destroyed after a nearby grass fire spread to the building.
The other images depict fires at the Saint-Paul Church in Montreal, the First Presbyterian Church in Vesta, Minnesota and the Church of Saint-Romain in Quebec, which were started by unknown causes, according to local media reports.
Another photo in the post, showing a church and bell tower in flames, was published by the Icelandic news website Visir in 2008.
The Icelandic caption, translated to English, states that it shows a 2007 church fire.
Portland's Morning Star Baptist Church, originally known as Trinity Lutheran Church, matches the church in the image and was destroyed by a blaze in February 2007, according to Firehouse.com.
The Metro Arson Task Force listed the cause as "undetermined", Oregon Live reported.
The photo of a fire in a building surrounded by a car park was taken from news reports about a 2025 attack on a Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Four people were killed and several others were injured when a gunman shot at the congregation and then started a fire in an attack the FBI said was motivated by "anti-religious beliefs", PBS reported.
The suspect was 40-year-old former Marine Thomas Jacob Sanford, who was killed by police at the scene.
Other images show fires in Alberta, Canada, at the Glenreagh Church and the St. Jean Baptiste Church.
In both cases, police said the blazes were suspicious or intentionally set, but no arrests have been made.
Another photo shows a fire at the Congregational Church of Eastford, Connecticut, which was started by two minors, according to NBC News.
Photos of fires at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Florida and the St. Theresa Point Roman Catholic Church in Manitoba, Canada, also appear in the composite image.
A photo in the bottom row of the collage showing bright orange flames engulfing a spire was taken after the Eglise de l'Immaculee-Conception church in Sainte-Ours, Quebec, was struck by lightning, according to CBC News.
Another photo used in the Facebook post shows the Portland Korean Church on fire in 2023, a local media outlet reported.
Cameron David Storer, 27, who also goes by the name Nicolette Fait, was subsequently jailed on arson and burglary charges, the media outlet said.
The final image shows the Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, which was damaged by a fire sparked by an electrical problem that spread from the building next door, CBS reported.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked other social media posts falsely linking Muslims to crimes despite no evidence of their involvement.
A 2026 study that analysed more than two million Australian social media posts found a sustained increase in hate targeting Muslim and Jewish people since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
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