Vatican City — The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Bamako, Mali, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Jean Zerbo.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Robert Cissé of Sikasso as metropolitan archbishop of the same archdiocese.

Archbishop-elect Robert Cissé was born on 7 June 1968 in Bamako. He studied philosophy at the Saint Augustin Major Seminary of Bamako and theology at the Saint Pierre Claver Major Seminary of Koumi, in Burkina Faso.

He received priestly ordination on 10 July 1993 in Koutiala, and was incardinated in the diocese of Sikasso.

After ordination, he held the roles of parish vicar and parish priest of Sikasso (1993-2000), head of the diocesan Commission for Vocations (1993-1998), chaplain of the laity (1997-1999), national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Mali (2006-2009), and vicar general of Sikasso (2005-2011). He was awarded a doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical Urbaniana University of Rome (2012-2017), and went on to serve as dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Université Catholique de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (2018-2022) and interim rector of the Saint Augustin Major Seminary of Bamako (2021-2022).

On 14 December 2022 he was appointed bishop of Sikasso, and received episcopal ordination on 11 February 2023.