The Archbishop of Genoa, Pietro Cardinal Boetto, sent him to continue his studies in sacred scripture and theology at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.
There, he received the licentiate degree and was assigned as a teacher of Hebrew and Scripture at the Archdiocesan Major Seminary.
He also founded the Institute for Religious Sciences in the diocese and favored the cultural reinvigoration of the clergy and laity in light of the Second Vatican Council, of which he was a member and participant in its last session.
Along with biblical scholar Enrico Galbiati, he wrote the book Difficult Pages of the Old Testament (Italian: Pagine difficili della Antico Testamento), of which many Italian editions were released and translations into English, Spanish, Polish, and Russian were made.
On 6 October 1990, Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation from pastoral governance of the diocese due to age and appointed Mario Meini as his successor.