On July 25, 2006 Bishop Frank J. Dewane was installed as only the second bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida. Three months prior to his ordination, on April 25 Pope Benedict XVI named him coadjutor bishop of the diocese.

To assume his new role as spiritual leader of 250,000 Catholics in Southwest Florida, Bishop Dewane left his position as Under Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, a post he had held at The Vatican since 2001. The primary responsibility of the Pontifical Council is to promote justice, peace, development and human rights world-wide. As Under Secretary, then-Monsignor Dewane was an official delegate of the Holy See to numerous international conferences and world summits.

Prior to his work on the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Bishop Dewane served on the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" for six years, from 1995 to 2001. Cor Unum is considered the charitable arm of the Holy Father.

In 1991 Bishop Dewane first became a delegate for the Vatican when he was appointed to serve as a member of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York City. He had been serving in the Diocese of Green Bay as assistant pastor at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Bishop Dewane currently serves on the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops Committee on National Catholic Rural Life which examines rural areas and determines what the Church is doing to help. As a member of the Florida Catholic Conference Bishop Dewane sits on the Committee for Farmworker Justice and Immigration.

Bishop Dewane was born in Green Bay on March 9, 1950, the third child of Eleanor and Ben Dewane, devout Irish-Catholics who owned and operated a dairy farm. St. James Parish in Cooperstown, WI was the center of community life for the Dewane family, which included four children. After high school graduation Bishop Dewane attended the University of Wisconsin where he earned a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences. He then earned a Master’s Degree in International Administration from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Prior to entering the seminary, Bishop Dewane worked for the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in Moscow, Russia, and then for a subsidiary of PepsiCo in New York City.

Bishop Dewane began his studies for the priesthood at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., where he completed one year of philosophy. He then studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. While in Rome, Bishop Dewane also completed advanced studies in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

On July 16, 1988, Bishop Dewane was ordained to the priesthood and appointed to the Diocese of Green Bay as assistant pastor. He also worked for the diocesan Tribunal.

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