Born in Stamford, Connecticut, Father Prior Benedict Nivakoff was baptized into the Catholic Faith at 12. He was educated by the Benedictine monks at Portsmouth Abbey School in Rhode Island. He graduated from the University of the South in Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts in Medieval Studies. Immediately after he graduated, he joined the monastic community at Norcia. After making his profession in 2003, he studied philosophy at Santa Croce in Rome and theology at the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria. He was ordained a priest in 2008. Fr. Prior served as subprior at various stages since 2006 throughout Fr. Cassian’s struggles with cancer. For the last 4 years, he has held the position of novice master. Besides these roles, he has been active in fundraising for the construction of the brewery and for renovations to the Basilica of St. Benedict, which was destroyed Oct. 30 during a powerful earthquake. He was appointed Prior of the Monastery of San Benedetto by the Abbot Primate Nov. 22, 2016, succeeding Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B.