Statistics On Religion

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31785, 16 September 1968, Page 16

Statistics On Religion

Of the 411 different religious professions entered by New Zealanders on the 1966 census schedules, only 11 had more than 10.000 adherents and only 34 had more than 1000 adherents, according to a new census volume published by the Department of Statistics.

The volume, which tabulates the religious professions of New Zealanders as recorded at the 1966 census, says that in 1966 more than 78 per cent of the population belonged to the four churches which had dominated religious life in New Zealand since the early days of the colony—the Church of England, the Presbyterian Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Methodist Church.

In 1966 out of every 100 New Zealanders, 34 described themselves as Anglicans, 22 as Presbyterians, 16 as Roman Catholics and 7 as Methodists. Anglicans totalled 901,701, Presbyterians 582,976, Roman Catholics 425,280 and Methodists 186260. Although all four of the principal churches had con-

siderably increased the number of their adherents between 1961 census and the 1966 census, only the Roman Catholic Church had kept pace with the growth of the population. As a percentage of the total populations, Anglicans declined from 34.6 in 1961 to 33.7 in 1966; Presbyterians from 22.3 to 21.8; and Methodists from 7.2 to 7.0. Roman Catholics, however, increased from 15.1 per cent to 15.9 per cent Mormon Increase The most spectacular percentage increase among other churches with more than 10,000 adherents, was in adherents to the Mormon Church. Mormons increased from 17,978 in 1961 to 25.564 in 1966, a rise of more than 42 per cent Between the censuses of 1961 and 1966, the total population increased by 10.8 per cent.

Other major churches which showed a greater rate of growth during the intercensal period than the total population included the Ratana Church, the Salvation Army, the Baptist Church and the Congregational Church. Those who described themselves as having “no religion” almost doubled in numbers between 1961 and 1966, but the 32,780 people in this category made up only 1.2 per cent of the population. The numbers of declared agnos-

tics, atheists and rationalists also rose sharply. An interesting feature of these “unreligious professions” was the heavy preponderance of males. Nearly twice as many males as females described themselves as having no religion. Among atheists there were 35 females to every 100 males, among agnostics, 43 females to every 100 males, and among rationalists, 48 females to every 100 males. Evenly Divided

In the main churches the sexes were fairly evenly balanced, with a slight preponderance of females. The church with the greatest reponderance of females was the First Church of Christ Scientist (founded by a woman) in which there were 143 females to every 100 males.

In Canterbury, founded as an Anglican settlement in 1850, more than half the 1871 population were Anglicans. In 1966, Anglicans made up more than 37 per cent of the population of the Canterbury statistical area. Nelson and Marlborough, also traditionally Anglican centres, also continued to record heavier percentages of Anglicans than in the population as a whole. In 1966, as in 1871, Roman Catholicism was strongest proportionally in Westland. In 1966 more than 27 per cent of the population there was Roman Catholic.