Traditionally, New Zealand has been a Christian country with the Anglican community as their largest group. This changed in recent years, when the Catholic community was growing while the Anglican community was declining.
What are the reasons for this development – and what else has changed on the religious map of Aotearoa New Zealand?

In an interview with Professor emeritus Peter Lineham on Muffin Talk, we discussed the recent census results.
In 2023, New Zealanders were urged to fill in the census honestly. They were told that it mattered and that certain funding would depend on the needs of the communities, and that these needs would be derived from the results of the survey.

Today, it has been announced that there would be no further census in the country. “People’s information needs are changing and today’s announcements ensure we keep delivering data that improves lives today and for generations to come,” Acting Stats NZ Chief Executive and Government Statistician Mary Craig said.

The census has certainly been costly and in order to fill some gaps, some data for the final statistics had to come from other sources, such as hospitals. Peter Lineham explained some of the results of the 2023 census and the delay in receiving figures for religious affiliations– two years after the survey.

The main takeaway might be that still about 50% of the population consider themselves religious and name a religious affiliation they belong to. The difference to the previous census is that the number used to be slightly above and is now slightly below the 50% mark.  However, even 1% of change signifies a relatively big number of people.
Lineham clarified that the largest drop of numbers has been in the mainstream Protestant Churches and that the Catholic figures are only much better due to migration.

In New Zealand’s history, religion has played a very important role. The Treaty of Waitangi was based on Christian belief, and the National Anthem acknowledges God – as well as the call to treat all people equally irrespective of their “creed”.
The first European migrants have built small churches at walking distance, have been connecting with their faith communities – and the fencibles were apparently even obliged to attend Sunday Mass at one of the Christian churches in the area where they were stationed.

The common religious belief makes a foreign place feel a bit like home. For migrants over the centuries the religious communities have been a place of belonging. This applies for Christians as well as Hindus, Muslims or other big migrant groups.

What happens once the migrants have made New Zealand their home? It seems like once they are feeling at home, the second and third generation migrants are less likely to affiliate with a religious community.

A common ground regarding ethics and morality cannot be taken for granted. With less than one third of New Zealanders being Christian and only about 50% belonging to a religious group, all communities need to work together to build bridges and weave the people of New Zealand into a harmonious society where there is unity and understanding while being enriched through our diversity.

BM