Life and career
Early life and education
Dewane was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on March 9, 1950. He was the third of the four children of Ben and Eleanor Dewane, who owned and operated a dairy farm. Dewane attended Denmark High School in Denmark, Wisconsin, where he played lineman on the football team. During his summer vacations, he worked at an appliance factory to pay for college.
He studied at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from 1968 to 1972, obtaining a bachelor's degree. He then attended American University in Washington, D.C., from 1973 to 1975, earning a Master of International Administration degree. After his graduation in 1975 from American University, Dewane worked for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in Moscow in what was then the Soviet Union. He later worked for a subsidiary of PepsiCo in New York City.
Dewane studied philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, from 1983 to 1984, then traveled to Rome in 1984 to attend the Pontifical North American College. He studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, both in Rome.
Episcopal ministry
On April 25, 2006, Dewane was appointed as coadjutor bishop of Venice in Florida by Pope Benedict XVI to assist Bishop John Nevins. Dewayne was consecrated on July 25, 2006, by Nevins, with John Favalora and Diarmuid Martin as co-consecrators, at Epiphany Cathedral in Venice. He took as his episcopal motto: Iustitia Pax Gaudium, meaning, "Justice, Peace, and Joy" (Romans 14:17).
When Nevins retired on January 19, 2007, Dewane automatically succeeded him as bishop of Venice.
In June 2014, a group of ten priests from the diocese sent a complaint letter about Dewane to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the papal nuncio for the United States. The priests charged Dewane with ignoring canon law, refusing to consult with priests, and creating an atmosphere of intimidation within the diocese. Dewane termed the allegations as "malicious" and "unfounded".
Dewane, in April 2019, ordered Christopher Senk, the former pastor of St. Isabel Parish in Sanibel, Florida, to spend a year in penance and prayer. After a two-year investigation, the Congregation for Clergy in Rome had determined that Senk had improperly accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Marion McIntyre. Her family claimed that McIntyre suffered from dementia during that period. Senk was suspended from pastoral ministry when the investigation began.
On May 13, 2026, Pope Leo XIV accepted his retirement after reaching the customary retirement age of 75.
