In antiquity,Cook Islanders practicedCook Islands mythology, before widespread conversion by theLondon Missionary Society during the nineteenth century. In modern times, the Cook Islands are predominantlyChristian, with the largest denomination being theCook Islands Christian Church.^[1][2]

The Cook Islands were settled at some point between 900 and 1200 CE by Polynesian settlers, who brought with themPolynesian mythology. Over the following centuries, this developed distinctive characteristics in the islands, forming a unique mythology local to the islands. Legends and stories were passed down in an oral tradition through songs and chants.^[3] On the island ofRarotonga, the physical landscape was heavily tied to religion, with allmarae (sacred buildings) constructed oriented towards Ara Metua, the ancient road around the island.^[4]

Cook Islands mythology includedAvaiki, the ancestral homeland and land of the gods; heroes such asNganaoa; and gods & goddesses includingAvatea,Ina,Marama,Papa,Rongo andTangaroa.^{[3][5][6][7][8][9]}

In 1821,John Williams of theLondon Missionary Society landed atAitutaki and began using Tahitian converts to spread Christianity. In 1823, John and his wife Mary were on the first European vessel to officially sight Rarotonga, theEndeavour. In 1834 the couple returned to Britain to supervise the printing of theNew Testament of the Bible inCook Islands Māori. John was killed inVanuatu in 1839, and a memorial stone was erected to him in Rarotonga that same year.^[10]

Williams had become the first recorded Reverend of the Cook Islands in 1821, atArutanga on Aitutaki. In 1828, the London Missionary Society constructed a church in that location that is the oldest church in the Cook Islands.^[11] The Society established theCook Islands LMS Church in 1852;^[12] in 1968 the church was renamed theCook Islands Christian Church and made autonomous by the Cook Islands Christian Church Incorporation Act.^[13] TheCook Islands Christian Church is aReformed Protestant Church, which has been very successful in the islands and today accounts for almost half of Cook Islanders. Other Christian denominations including Catholicism, Mormonism, Adventism and Pentecostalism have had some success in the Cook Islands as well.

In 2018, the country's first mosque, Masjid Fatimah Rarotonga, was established inTitikaveka, Rarotonga. As of November 2024, it was led by Mohammed Azam and had a congregation of Cook Islanders,Indonesians,Filipinos,Fijians andIndians.^[14]

In February 2025, Rarotonga Muslim community spokesperson Tatiana Kautai expressed concern about alleged risingIslamophobia in Cook Islands society, the media and social media. She cited the removal of Masjid Fatimah Rarotonga's mosque pin onGoogle Maps and the emergence of a Cook Islands Christian Movement seeking to lobby the Cook Islands government to declare the island state a Christian country. The Cook Islands Christian Movement has also challenged theCrimes Amendment Act 2023, which decriminalised homosexuality in the island state.^[15]

In early March 2025, theCook Islands Christian Church proposed a constitutional amendment to declare the Cook Islands a Christian country. TheCook Islands Parliament's Religious Organisation Special Select Committee heard submissions on the constitutional amendment in Rarotonga and the outer islands. Cook Islands opposition leaderTina Browne described the proposed amendment as in conflict with Article 64 on the Cook Islands Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion for all.^[16]

The majority of Cook Islanders areProtestant Christians, with almost half of the islands' population being members of the Cook Islands Christian Church.Catholicism andPentecostalism are also present, as areMormons andJehovah's Witnesses. Non-Christian faiths includingHinduism,Buddhism andIslam are found in small numbers mostly among non-indigenous inhabitants.^[17] While the island nation's census does not calculate the number of Muslims, it is estimated that in 2006 about 0.06% of the islands' population wasMuslim.^[18][19]

• Culture of the Cook Islands
• Demographics of the Cook Islands
• Islam in the Cook Islands

• Religion in the Cook Islands
• Culture of the Cook Islands
• Demographics of the Cook Islands
• Geography of the Cook Islands

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description