Brother Benedict F. Janecko, O.S.B., received a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Saint Vincent College. He studied at the Collegio di Sant' Anselmo, Rome, Italy, where he received his S.T.I. in theology in 1966, and at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he received his S.S.I. in Sacred Sculpture in 1969. He entered the Benedictine Monastic community at Saint Vincent Archabbey in 1958, made solemn profession of vows on July 2, 1962, and was ordained a deacon on July 4, 1964 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, by Bishop Joseph Avack. He has taught Old Testament and Hebrew at Saint Vincent Seminary since 1969, and has also taught in the Theology Department. He is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association.
1996-98: Brother Benedict was a "pen pal" with Reginald S. Lewis, a prisoner on death row at nearby Waynesburg Correctional Institute; "Reggie" is a prolific playwright and recently has written a play about penal justice concerning the race question. The play is entitled "Affinity with Angels" with scriptural support supplied by Br. Benedict.
2012: Still a pen pal of Reginald Lewis. Wrote a Foreward to his book of poetry Psalms of Death Row.
