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

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 ...

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 Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

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

Christian Brothers University Christian Brothers University is a private Catholic university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1871 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. History Founded on November 19, 1871, it was estab ...

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

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree at the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

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

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

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

degree in 2000.

Priesthood

Marshall was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Memphis 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 Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

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 * Hu ...

and St. Matthew in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

(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. Marshall was the delegate of Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who served as

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the diocese from October 2018 to April 2019. Marshall was appointed

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the diocese in April 2019 by Bishop David P. Talley, the new bishop.

Bishop of Alexandria

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

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