The full story
In 2017 Parliament under HRPP added article 1(3) to the Constitution, declaring Samoa a Christian nation; article 11, which guarantees freedom of religion, was not changed. 13 The Attorney-General said at the time that the amendment did not alter any individual's right to practise their religion. 3
Under Fiamē, the FAST government repealed the 2017 tax on church ministers in 2022 and made no change to the Christian-nation clause. 45 A US State Department report on the earlier tax dispute recorded cases involving 39 pastors dismissed or withdrawn. 6
The UN rapporteurs' letter records that on 24 December 2025 the Prime Minister said the government was considering measures to prohibit non-Christian religions. 2 On 11 January 2026 the Head of State issued a proclamation requiring weekly Wednesday prayer and fasting across government ministries, corporations and statutory bodies, with a national period of prayer and fasting to 16 January 2026 and a ban on construction on Sundays. 2 ABC reported the proposal on 21 January 2026; the imam of Samoa's Muslim community said the fasting-and-prayer announcements had left him "a little bit scared", and Tuilaepa said no member of the HRPP caucus endorsed the recommendation and the government lacked the two-thirds majority needed to change the Constitution. 78
UN special rapporteurs wrote to the government on 13 April 2026, saying compulsory religious observance in the public service and a possible ban could conflict with Samoa's freedom-of-religion obligations. 2 No ban has been enacted, and the constitutional guarantee in article 11 remains. 21
No figure measures the effect on religious minorities: there is no count of people affected by the proclamation or of non-Christians' experience since December 2025. 2 The trend here rests on documented state actions, not on a measured indicator.