[3] Sartain then went to Rome to study at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, receiving a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1977.

[5] Returning to his studies in Rome, Sartain was in St. Peter's Square when the newly elected Pope John Paul II emerged from the papal conclave of October 1978.

[4] After returning to Memphis, Sartain was appointed as associate pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, where he remained for two years.

[2] He then served as director of vocations, as chancellor, as moderator of the curia, as vicar for clergy, as a high school chaplain, and as a judge with the diocesan marriage tribunal.

[1] Sartain served as diocesan administrator (1992–93) after Bishop Daniel M. Buechlein was named to head the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

[4] On January 4, 2000, Sartain was appointed the sixth bishop of Little Rock by Pope John Paul II.

He received his episcopal consecration on March 6, 2000, from Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran, with Bishops J. Terry Steib and Andrew Joseph McDonald serving as co-consecrators.

During his ordination as archbishop of Seattle, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) organized a protest against Sartain's installation.

[11] On April 18, 2012, the Vatican announced the appointment of Sartain to oversee a review of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a prominent umbrella group for nuns in the United States.

In April 2012, Sartain urged parishes in the archdiocese to collect signatures to place Referendum 74 on the November ballot.