Joseph of the Sacred Heart arrived in New Zealand and established schools. In 1892, Suzanne Aubert established the Sisters of Compassion – the first Catholic order established in New Zealand for women. The Anglican Church in New Zealand recognises her as a saintly person and in 1997 the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference agreed to support the "Introduction of the Cause of Suzanne Aubert", to begin the process of consideration for her canonisation as a saint by the Catholic Church. Although there was some hostility between Catholic and Protestants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, this declined after the 1920s. Sectarian groups such as the Orange Order continue to exist in New Zealand but are now virtually invisible. New Zealand's first Catholic Prime Minister, Joseph Ward, took office in 1906. The founding of the National Council of Churches (NCC) in 1941 marked the positive relationships between New Zealand Christians. The NCC was an important voice of the churches in national affairs. The NCC was replaced in 1988 by a new ecumenical body which included Catholics—the Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand (CCANZ) which was ended in 2005. There is now very little sectarianism in New Zealand and various churches commonly co-operate on issues of common interest, and various ecumenical bodies exist promoting co-operation between Christians. Demographics The proportion of New Zealanders who identify as Christian is declining—accounting for around forty percent of responses to the 2018 census, whereas in the 1991 census it stood at around three-quarters. Christian groups are experiencing mixed trends. Anglicanism and Presbyterianism are both losing adherents at a rapid rate, while smaller Protestant groups and non-denominational churches are growing. (Note: All figures are for the census usually resident population. Percentages are based on number of responses rather than total population. These are nominal. The 2011 census was cancelled due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake In all censuses, up to four responses were collected.) Geographic distribution The number of Christians in New Zealand varies slightly across different parts of the country – as of the 2006 census, the number of Christians in each territorial authority ranged from a low of 43.7% (in Kawerau) to a high of 63.4% (in Ashburton). In general, the tendency is for rural areas, particularly in the lower South Island, to have somewhat higher numbers of Christians, and urban areas to have lower numbers – of the sixteen designated Cities of