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 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
