New Zealand's 2018 Census recorded Christianity as the largest religious category at 37.3% of the population, down from 48.9% in 2013. The census also recorded 48.6% with no religion, making irreligion the single largest category when measured as a distinct response. This represents one of the steepest declines in Christian affiliation among developed nations over a five-year period. The Anglican Church claimed 10.7% of the population, Catholic Church 10.4%, Presbyterian and Congregational 6.8%, all other Christian denominations combined 9.4%. Hinduism stood at 2.6%, Islam 1.3%, Buddhism 1.1%, Sikhism 0.9%. The census question allowed multiple responses and a separate category for Māori Christian denominations, which recorded 0.4%. These figures place New Zealand among the least religious nations in the OECD by self-identification.
The Treaty of Waitangi signed February 6, 1840 between representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs contained no establishment of religion, though Christian missionaries had arrived decades earlier and some served as translators during negotiations. Henry Williams and his son Edward Williams of the Church Missionary Society translated the treaty text into Māori. The document guaranteed Māori full protection under British law, including existing beliefs and practices, though this protection was inconsistently applied during subsequent decades of colonization. Missionary activity intensified after 1814 when Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society conducted the first Christian service in the Bay of Islands on December 25. By 1840, an estimated 40% of Māori had converted to Christianity, though many integrated Christian practices with existing spiritual frameworks rather than adopting complete replacement.
Māori spiritual practice before European contact centered on concepts of tapu (sacred restriction), noa (ordinary, unrestricted), mana (spiritual authority), mauri (life force), and wairua (spirit). These concepts persist in contemporary Māori communities regardless of Christian affiliation. Tohunga served as spiritual specialists with expertise in healing, warfare, construction, and communication with atua (ancestral spirits and gods). The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 criminalized traditional healing practices, remaining in force until its repeal in 1962. This legislation emerged from both Christian missionary advocacy and government efforts to promote Western medicine. Prosecutions under the act numbered fewer than thirty, most occurring in the 1910s and 1920s, with enforcement declining after the 1930s. The law's existence nevertheless deterred open practice of traditional healing and spiritual guidance for over fifty years.
Christianity reached Māori communities through multiple denominations competing for converts. The Church Missionary Society (Anglican) established missions from 1814. Wesleyan Methodists arrived 1822. Catholic missions began 1838 under Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier, who built Pompallier Mission at Russell in 1842, New Zealand's oldest surviving industrial building. These missions provided Māori with literacy in both Māori and English, agricultural instruction, and trade goods, creating incentives for conversion beyond theological persuasion. By 1850, estimates suggest 60-70% of Māori identified as Christian, though the percentage varied significantly by iwi (tribe) and geographic region. Some iwi leaders such as Hongi Hika of Ngāpuhi adopted Christianity while simultaneously conducting traditional warfare. Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa converted late in life after years of armed conflict. Other communities rejected Christianity entirely or adopted it selectively.
Māori prophetic movements emerged in the 1860s during the New Zealand Wars as communities sought spiritual frameworks addressing land confiscation and colonial violence. Pai Mārire, founded by Te Ua Haumēne in 1862 in Taranaki, combined Christian elements with Māori spiritual practices and advocated armed resistance. Adherents performed niu pole rituals seeking divine protection in battle. Government forces and settler militias killed Te Ua Haumēne in 1866. The movement fragmented but influenced later movements including Hauhau. Ringatū, founded by Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki during his imprisonment on the Chatham Islands in 1868, incorporated Old Testament themes of exile and return with Māori language liturgy. Ringatū remains active today with approximately 16,000 adherents recorded in the 2018 Census, conducting services entirely in te reo Māori at marae and churches primarily in the Bay of Plenty and East Cape regions.
The Parihaka movement led by Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi at Parihaka pā in Taranaki advocated nonviolent resistance to land confiscation from 1860s through 1881. The prophets taught passive resistance strategies including plowing confiscated land and rebuilding fences removed by settlers. On November 5, 1881, Armed Constabulary forces numbering approximately 1,600 invaded Parihaka, arresting Te Whiti and Tohu without armed resistance from the community's 2,000 residents. The Crown held Te Whiti imprisoned without trial until 1883, then under restrictive conditions until his death in 1907. The government formally apologized for the invasion in 2017, providing a settlement of NZD 9 million to descendants and establishing Parihaka as a reserve. The 18th day of each month remains sacred in the Parihaka calendar, commemorating the prophets' teachings. Te Whiti's philosophy influenced later nonviolent movements internationally, though direct connections to Gandhi or other leaders lack documentary evidence.
Ratana Church, founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in 1920 after he reported healing visions, combined Christian theology with advocacy for Māori political rights and Treaty of Waitangi enforcement. Rātana established the church headquarters at Rātana pā near Whanganui in 1925. By 1930, membership reached an estimated 20,000. The movement entered formal politics in 1931, eventually holding all four Māori parliamentary seats from 1943 to 1963 through alliance with the Labour Party. The 2018 Census recorded 35,922 Ratana adherents. The church maintains a brass band tradition, with Rātana Temple hosting annual celebrations January 25 marking Rātana's birthday. The theology emphasizes physical and spiritual healing (rongopai), rejection of Māori traditional practices pre-dating Christianity, and political advocacy through democratic institutions rather than prophetic authority. This political integration distinguishes Ratana from earlier prophetic movements that operated in opposition to Crown authority.
Anglican Christianity shaped New Zealand's educational and social institutions during the colonial period despite the absence of constitutional establishment. The Church of England held semi-official status through Crown connections, government funding for missionary activities, and appointment of Anglican clergy as government officials in early settlement. George Augustus Selwyn served as the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand from 1841 to 1868, establishing theological training at St John's College in Auckland in 1843. The college trained both Pākehā (European) and Māori clergy, though Māori ordination rates declined after 1860 as church leadership increasingly favored European candidates. By 1870, approximately 40% of New Zealand's European population identified as Anglican. This percentage declined gradually through the 20th century as Catholic immigration increased and secularization accelerated.
Catholic immigration increased significantly after 1860 with Irish settlers. By 1901, Catholics comprised 14% of the European population. Bishop Pompallier's early mission work established Catholicism in northern regions, but the church's growth occurred primarily in South Island gold mining towns and North Island farming districts settled by Irish immigrants. Cardinal Thomas Williams served as Archbishop of Wellington from 1979 to 2005, becoming New Zealand's first cardinal in 1983. The church operated extensive educational networks, with Catholic schools educating approximately 65,000 students as of 2020, representing about 8% of total school enrollment. Integration of Catholic schools into the state system beginning 1975 provided government funding while maintaining religious character, a model that accommodated parental choice while reducing direct church financial burden.