Raymond W. Lessard

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.

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.

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".