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.