Fr. Kjell Arild Pollestad (born 27 May 1949 in Hå

Hå

Hå is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Hå is the southernmost municipality in the district Jæren.The parish of Haa was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . It was divided into Nærbø and Varhaug in 1894. The municipality of Hå was created after the merger of Nærbø, Varhaug,...

, Jæren

Jæren

Jæren is a traditional district in the county of Rogaland. The others are Dalane, Ryfylke and Haugalandet.Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in Norway, stretching from the municipality of Randaberg in the north to Hå in the south. The coast is flat compared to the rest of the Norwegian coast,...

) is a Norwegian author, essayist, translator, theologian, philologist, Catholic priest and Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

.

Pollestad studied Russian language and Lutheran theology at the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

, 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

Syriac language

Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...

 and Coptic

Coptic language

Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...

) at the Pontifical Biblical Institute

Pontifical Biblical Institute

The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy is an institution of the Holy See run by the Jesuits that offers instruction at the university level...

 in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

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

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 in 1975, he was ordained a Catholic priest by Bishop John Willem Gran

John Willem Gran

Willem Nicolaysen Gran was the bishop of the Oslo Catholic diocese from 1963 to 1983.-Life:...

 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

is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....

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

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 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

Constantine P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy, also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes was a renowned Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant...

 in 2002. He won the Cappelen Prize

Cappelen Prize

The Cappelen Prize is a Norwegian literary award that is awarded each year by the Cappelen Damm publishing company. It was established in 1979, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the publishing house of Cappelen.-Laureates:...

 (jointly with Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld

Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld

Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld is a Norwegian journalist, foreign correspondent and non-ficiton writer.He has worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation from 1976, and been a foreign correspondent for NRK in Moscow for three periods. He has written several books...

) in 1990. He is also a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature

Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature

The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the Dano-Norwegian language. Its primary role is regulating the written standard known as Riksmål ....

. 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 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

Homoeroticism refers to the erotic attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female , most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements...

 poems. In an op-ed in Aftenposten

Aftenposten

Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...

, he accounced 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
  Constantine P. Cavafy
  Constantine P. Cavafy, also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes was a renowned Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant...
  
  : 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)