Dominican Father Benedict T. (Thomas Michael) Viviano, 83, died May 25 at Resurrection Life Center. Father Viviano was internationally renowned as a scholar of sacred Scripture, particularly of the Gospel of St. Matthew.

Born in St. Louis, he entered the Dominican novitiate in 1959 and made his first vows the following year, when he began his studies in River Forest. He made his final vows in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1966.

After his ordination, Father Viviano studied at the Pontifical Institute of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.; and the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome; and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, earning several advanced degrees in Scripture.

He taught at the university and post-graduate levels at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in Dubuque, Iowa, and in St. Louis and the Dominican Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, while serving as editor of the Revue Biblique. Following his time at the Ecole, he moved to become professor of New Testament at the Dominican University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

He wrote and edited several books and commentaries on Scripture, and contributed to almost every major biblical journal.

Following his retirement from the University of Fribourg in 2011, Father Viviano divided his year between the Dominican community in Vienna and St. Dominic Priory in St. Louis. In 2019, he moved to St. Pius V Priory because of his health.

He is survived by his sister, Patricia Viviano Tecu.