Father Raymond Paul, a retired priest, was ordained a priest for the Conventual Franciscans on March 3, 1962, by Archbishop Leo Binz, in St. Paul Cathedral, St. Paul, Minnesota, but has ministered in the Youngstown Diocese since 1970—most recently serving as pastor of St. Joseph Church (now Divine Mercy Parish) in Massillon.
A Massillon native, he attended St. Mary School before advancing to Mount St. Francis Seminary in New Albany, Indiana, for high school.
Upon joining the Conventual Franciscans,he continued his studies at Our Lady of Consolation Seminary in Carey, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor of arts, and Assumption Seminary in Chaska, Minnesota. He was ordained as a Conventual Franciscan in 1962. Following ordination, Father Paul served at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio—now a basilica—for eight years. His duties included submitting articles monthly for their magazine, Apostolate of Our Lady.
Father Paul began ministering in the Diocese of Youngstown in 1970, serving as an assistant at St. Anthony Parish in Youngstown until being named associate pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in Struthers in February 1974, the year he was incardinated into the diocese.
He was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in Harrisburg in July 1978, where he served until being named pastor of St. Joseph Church (now Divine Mercy Parish) in Massillon in July 1986. Father Paul remained as pastor there until his retirement in 2023.
He has served on the diocesan Priests Council and the Senate of Priests, as well as a synodal judge on the diocesan Tribunal, as a member of the Priest Personnel Board and the Priest Retirement Board. Father Paul had also been a member and treasurer of the Massillon Commission to Advocate Literacy. In addition, he has served as chaplain to Massillon Assembly No. 820 of the Knights of Columbus, and as a chaplain at the former Cafaro Hospital in Youngstown.
