Cook Islands Rejects Push to Enshrine Christianity in Constitution

The discovery of a mosque in Rarotonga led churches to push for the Cook Islands’ constitution to be amended to prohibit non-Christian religions.

The Northern side of the Island of Rarotonga, the largest island in the Cook Islands, on Aug. 30, 2012. The Cook Islands are one of the places that offshore companies have been established and used by Chinese elite to shield their wealth, much of it ill-gotten, according to a journalism group. Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

The discovery of the presence of a mosque in Rarotonga, which had been quietly operating for seven years, has set off a major debate about the status of the Cook Islands as a “Christian nation.”

It culminated this week in a parliamentary committee refusing to formally embed the country’s religious affiliation by amending the constitution.

The Masjid Fatimah Rarotonga quietly opened its doors to the local Islamic community in 2018. Situated within a family home in Titikaveka, on the southeast side of Rarotonga, it operated without incident until publicity about its existence last year led to heated debate and calls for the country’s constitution to be amended to bar non-Christian religions.

The Religious Organisation Restrictions Act, passed in 1975, limits the introduction of new religions to only the four authorised in the Act: The Cook Islands Christian Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The constitution currently allows anyone to practice their religious faith, but if they want to establish a church, they must apply to the Religious Authority Council. There are three pending applications before the Council.

Last year Mohammed Azam, leader of the Muslim community in Rarotonga, told the Cook Islands News that the facility accommodated hundreds of Muslims on the island, including Indonesians, Filipinos, Indians, and some Cook Islanders, as well as visiting Muslim tourists.

“We do prayers five times a day every day, and there’s nothing else we do besides that,” he said.

Churches Have Significant Influence

But the country’s other churches reacted strongly against the news, and began pushing for the country to be declared a Christian nation and for other religions to be outlawed.

The influence of the church in the Cook Islands is such that Parliament responded by establishing a Religious Organisations Special Select Committee, which heard submissions on Rarotonga and visited the outer islands.

Opposition was headed by the Cook Islands Christian Church, which proposed a constitutional amendment to enshrine “the protection and promotion of the Christian faith as the basis for the laws and governance of the country.”

Churches in the Pacific nation are traditionally very conservative and decided to use the consultation process to also propose reversing a 2023 law that legalised same-sex relations.

Cook Islands Christian Movement interim secretary William Framheim said this was a “Western concept” that may be acceptable elsewhere, but not in the Cooks.

In a letter to the editor, Rarotonga Muslim community spokesperson Tatiana Kautai questioned the “love and compassion” of the Movement, alluding to comments from its interim vice president, Pastor Clerk Turua, who said its purpose was “to unite believers and serve the community with love and compassion.”

From the outset, the government appeared reluctant to restrict freedom of worship, noting that to do so would breach several international treaties to which the Cook Islands was a signatory, while opposition MPs supported further restrictions.

Rejected as Discriminatory

This week, the committee rejected the proposal, saying it would be discriminatory and a violation of fundamental human rights and would breach the country’s constitution. And—in a move certain to foment more opposition from the established churches—recommended Parliament repeal the Religious Organisations Restrictions Act.

In its report, the committee agreed with the Cook Islands Law Society that laws must be applied fairly, equally, and without discrimination to all people regardless of their religious beliefs.

“The committee is compelled to adopt measures that uphold inclusivity, equality, and fundamental freedoms, ensuring alignment with both domestic and international standards,” the report said.

The report also pointed out that the Religious Advisory Council (RAC) had been “mistakenly” accepted as having an advisory role to the government on matters such as the regulation of churches and even immigration and seabed mining.

“However, the problem is that RAC is not a legally incorporated body and therefore has no formal or legal status,” the report said.

The committee said it believed that the preamble of the Constitution sufficiently captured the significance of Christian principles in the Cook Islands.

It reads: “In the Holy Name of God, The Almighty, The Everloving, And The Everlasting. We, the people of the Cook Islands, recognising the heritage of Christian principles, Cook Islands Custom, and the rule of law, remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day, being that day of the week which, according to a person’s belief and conscience, is the Sabbath of the Lord.”