Norway appoints Minister to celebrate 1000 years of Christianity

Kjersti Toppe, the Minister of Children and Family Affairs, wants to have a "popular celebration" of the anniversary. She says this to the Christian Norwegian daily Vårt Land. As Minister of State for Faith and Philosophy, Toppe is already responsible for the government's plans to restore old stone churches for the great millennium anniversary.

Until now, the responsibility for the millennium celebration has belonged to Anette Trettebergstuen as Minister of Culture and Gender Equality. Over the summer, Toppe will take over, the government has decided.

As part of remembering the anniversary, the Norwegian government has pledged to restore the 159 medieval stone churches in the country. Toppe, a mother of six, is already responsible for this.

Battle

In 2030, it will be a thousand years since the fall of Saint Olav in the battle of Stiklestad. This battle is one of the key events in the history of Norway and saw the defeat of the Christian Viking King, Olav Haraldsson.

Haraldsson would go on to become the patron saint of Norway, and today the battle is considered a critical step in the consolidation of Norway and the breakthrough of Christianity.

Family Minister Toppe is a member of the Centre Party. For the Center Party, the desire for a large-scale celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization of Norway last year was an election campaign issue.

Last year, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, the Centre Party leader, argued that the battle is "such a completely defining event in our nation's history and our nation's self-image" that a major celebration must be in place. That celebration deserves as much space as the constitutional anniversary in 2014.