Name Raymond Lessard Posthumous style not applicable | Religious style Monsignor Spoken style Your Excellency | |
 | ||
Died January 3, 2016, Boynton Beach, Florida, United States | ||
Reference style The Most Reverend | ||
Raymond William Lessard (December 21, 1930 – January 3, 2016) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia from 1973 to 1995.
Contents
- Early life education and priesthood
- Bishop of Savannah
- Resignation and academic career
- Death
- Sex abuse scandal and cover up
- References
Early life, education, and priesthood
Raymond Lessard was born in Grafton, North Dakota, to a largely French-Canadian family. An early ancestor, who had emigrated to Canada from Normandy, donated a piece of land for the construction of the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. Lessard was raised on a farm and educated at St. Aloysius Academy.
He studied at St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota, and was ordained to the priesthood on December 16, 1956, for the Diocese of Fargo. Lessard later worked at the Vatican both during and after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) as an official of the Consistorial Congregation.
Bishop of Savannah
On March 5, 1973, Lessard was appointed the twelfth Bishop of Savannah by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following April 27 from Archbishop Thomas Donnellan, with Bishops Justin Driscoll and Francis Gossman serving as co-consecrators. He once served as liaison between Catholic bishops and married Episcopalian clergy seeking Catholic ordination. As a bishop of the Southern United States, he has described racism as "the paramount social problem affecting our area".
Resignation and academic career
Lessard, due to his chronic back problems, resigned as Bishop on February 7, 1995, after twenty-one years of service. He then became a professor at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he taught ecclesiology.
Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Lessard has chaired the Committee for Pastoral Research and Practices.
Death
Lessard died at his home, on January 3, 2016, at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, in Boynton Beach, Florida.
Sex abuse scandal and cover-up
In October, 2009, the diocese of Savannah paid $4.24 million to settle a lawsuit which alleged that Lessard allowed a priest named Wayland Brown to work in the diocese when Lessard knew that Brown was a serial child molester who posed a danger to children.