Robert William Marshall, Jr. (born June 17, 1959) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who has been serving as Bishop of Alexandria in Louisiana since 2020.

Biography

Early life

Robert Marshall was born on June 17, 1959, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He attended Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, then went to

Christian Brothers University Christian Brothers University is a private Roman Catholic higher education institution in Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded in 1871 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. History Christian Brothers University was ...

in Memphis, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in history degree in 1980. In 1983, Marshall earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree at the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

law school. He then practiced civil law for twelve years in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and Memphis. Having decided to become a priest, Marshall entered

Notre Dame Seminary Notre Dame Seminary is a Catholic seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It serves the other six Catholic dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of New Orleans, six additional dioces ...

in New Orleans in 1995 and completed his

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degree in 2000.

Priesthood

Marshall was ordained a priest of the

Diocese of Memphis In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

on June 10, 2000, by Bishop Terry Steib at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis. After his 2000 ordination, the diocese assigned Marshall to pastoral assignments in the following Tennessee parishes: * parochial vicar at Incarnation in Collierville (2000 to 2002) * pastor at Sacred Heart in

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * ...

and St. Matthew in Milan (2002 to 2004) * pastor at Ascension in Memphis (2004 to 2012) * pastor at St. Francis of Assisi in Memphis (2012 to 2017) * parochial administrator at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis (2017 to 2020) Marshall also served on the presbyteral council and the

college of consultors A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e., a counselor. In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions: *in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by ...

. Marshall was the delegate of Archbishop

Joseph Kurtz Joseph Edward Kurtz (born August 18, 1946) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville in Kentucky from 2007 to 2022. He previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Kn ...

, who served as apostolic administrator of the diocese from October 2018 to April 2019. Marshall was appointed vicar general of the diocese in April 2019 by Bishop David P. Talley, the new bishop.

Bishop of Alexandria

Pope Francis appointed Marshall as bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria on April 21, 2020. He was consecrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond on August 20, 2020, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Alexandria.

References

External links