Kjell Arild Pollestad, OP (born 27 May 1949 in

Hå Hå is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the southernmost municipality in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the v ...

Jæren Jæren is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Rogaland county, Norway. The other districts in Rogaland are Dalane, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the large ...

) is a Norwegian Catholic author, translator, theologian, philologist, and Dominican priest. Pollestad studied Russian language and Lutheran theology at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, graduating as cand. theol. in 1977. He graduated in Catholic theology at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse in 1979, and studied ancient Oriental languages ( Syriac and Coptic) at the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

from 1979 to 1981. He is fluent in a large number of languages. Converting to Catholicism and joining the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

in 1975, he was ordained a Catholic priest by Bishop John Willem Gran on 12 April 1980. He was head of the press office of the Catholic Church in Norway 1981–1988, and parish priest in

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

1988–1996. He has lived in the monastery of St. Jacques in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

since 2005. Pollestad has been a popular and award-winning author since the 1980s. He has published several books and essays, and has translated a collection of poems by Constantine P. Cavafy in 2002. He won the

Cappelen Prize The Cappelen Prize () is a Norwegian literary award that was established in 1979 by J.W. Cappelens Forlag, one of the oldest publishing houses of Norway, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the publishing house. It has not been awarded aft ...

(jointly with

Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld (born 29 March 1951) is a Norwegian journalist, foreign correspondent and non-fiction writer. He has worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) from 1976, and been a foreign correspondent for NRK in Moscow for ...

) in 1990. He is also a member of the

Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern Norwegian language in its Dano-Norwegian variety, now commonly known as Riksmål and Bo ...

. Pollestad is an outspoken liberal who has been one of Norway's best known Catholics for many years, frequently appearing as a commentator on Catholic issues in national media. He was one of three presenters of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

documentary series ''Tre muntre herrer i Roma'' (Three Cheerful Gentlemen in Rome), that was aired in 2007. Within the Catholic Church itself, he has been controversial due to his perceived liberal stance notably on homosexuality, with several priests signing a protest petition against him when he published the Cavafy collection that included some of Cavafy's

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, including both male–male and female–female attraction. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be tempor ...

poems. In an op-ed in ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'', he announced his intention to resign as a Catholic priest in 2010, but eventually changed his mind.

Publications

* ''Lofottorsk på nonnebord'', essays (1984) * ''Min Islandsferd'' (1986) * ''Skål for Norge'' (1987) * ''17. mai i Samarkand'' (1988) * ''Paven i Rom'' (1989) * ''Veien til Rom – hvordan jeg ble katolikk'' (1990) * ''Maten er halve føda'' (1991) * ''Humørpiller. Muntre epistler i utvalg'' (1992) * ''Pater Hilarion'' (1993) * ''Parabol'' (1996) * ''Therese'' (1997) * ''Veier overalt'' (1998) * ''Livet er bedre enn sitt rykte'' (1999) * ''Kirkeliv i nord før Svartedauden'' (2001) * Constantine P. Cavafy: ''Siden jeg ikke kan tale om min kjærlighet'' (2002) * ''Gleden er gratis'' (2002) * ''Samtaler med Horats – Dagbok 2000–2004'' (2004) * ''Peters svar : kristendom for dannede hedninger og lunkne kristne'' (2007) * ''På feil klode? - Dagbok 2004-2008'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollestad, Kjell Arild 1949 births Living people People from Hå Norwegian Roman Catholic priests University of Oslo alumni Norwegian theologians Norwegian biblical scholars Norwegian essayists Members of the Norwegian Academy Norwegian Dominicans 20th-century Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Roman Catholic priests Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni Roman Catholic biblical scholars