Father Kurt J. Belsole, O.S.B., of St. Marys, Pennsylvania, graduated from Saint Vincent Preparatory School. After earning a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Saint Vincent College in 1974, Father Kurt received a master of divinity degree from Saint Vincent Seminary in 1978. He earned a diploma in Latin Letters in 1980 from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; a license in Patristic Theology and Sciences in 1983 from the Patristic Institute at the Augustinianum, Rome; studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, Rome (1981-1983); and earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1994 from Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm, Rome. He wrote his doctoral dissertation, Joy in Lent: “Gaudium” in the Rule of Saint Benedict, under the direction of Father Adalbert de Vogüé. He has also received grants from the German Government to study German at the Goethe Institut in Passau, Germany, and from the French Government to study French at the Institut Catholique in Paris.
Father Kurt taught at Saint Vincent Seminary, where he was also academic dean and then rector. He has also taught at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm, Rome and has taught at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he now serves as director of liturgy.
He has published one book, Joy in Lent: Gaudium in Chapter 49 of the Regula Benedicti. The Monastic and Liturgical Contexts, published in 1993 by the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm, Rome; and reprinted in 1995 by Saint Vincent Archabbey. He has published numerous articles and book reviews.
He serves on the editorial board of Word and Spirit: A Monastic Journal (1992-present), and has been an associate editor of The American Benedictine Review since 1994. He has published numerous articles and book reviews in various periodicals including Spirit and Life, Word and Spirit, Living Prayer, Church History, Antiphon, and The American Benedictine Review, and has written four articles for the Encyclopedia of Monasticism.