Raymond William Lessard (December 21, 1930 – January 3, 2016) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as the 12th

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Diocese of Savannah The Diocese of Savannah () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia in the United States.

in Georgia from 1973 to 1995.

Biography

Early life

Raymond Lessard was born on December 21, 1930, in

Grafton, North Dakota Grafton is a city and the county seat of Walsh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 4,170 at the 2020 census. making Grafton the 17th largest city in North Dakota. Grafton was founded in 1881 and US Highway 81 and North Dako ...

, US to a largely

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

family. Lessard was raised on a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

and educated at St. Aloysius Academy in Oakwood, North Dakota. He then attended St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lessard was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood by Archbishop Martin O’Connor on December 16, 1956, for the

Diocese of Fargo The Diocese of Fargo () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern North Dakota in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint ...

. Lessard later worked at the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

in Rome, both during and after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(1962–1965) as an official of the

Consistorial Congregation In the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church, a congregation () was a type of department. They were second-highest-ranking departments, ranking below the two Secretariats, and above the pontifical councils, pontifical commissions, tribunals and off ...

Bishop of Savannah

On March 5, 1973, Lessard was appointed the twelfth Bishop of Savannah by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on April 27, 1973, from Archbishop Thomas Donnellan, with Bishops Justin Driscoll and Francis Gossman serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. Lessard once served as liaison between Catholic bishops and married

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

clergy seeking Catholic ordination. He once described

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

as "the paramount social problem affecting our area". Within the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

, Lessard

chaired The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

the Committee for Pastoral Research and Practices.

Retirement and legacy

Due to his chronic back problems, Lessard submitted his resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Savannah to

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. The pope accepted it on February 7, 1995. Lessard then became a professor at

St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary located in Boynton Beach, Florida for the education and formation of seminarians to the Roman Catholic priesthood. St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary was established to form ...

in Boynton Beach,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where he taught

ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of th ...

. Raymond Lessard died at his home, on January 3, 2016, at St. Vincent de Paul.

Sex abuse scandal and cover-up

In October, 2009, the diocese of Savannah paid $4.24 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged Lessard allowed Father Wayland Brown to practice ministry in the diocese when Lessard knew that Brown was a serial child molester.SavannahNow.com
Diocese to pay $4M for abuse
October 29, 2009

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessard, Raymond W. 1930 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Participants in the Second Vatican Council Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Savannah, Georgia Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo Religious leaders from North Dakota Catholics from North Dakota People from Grafton, North Dakota