[1][2] He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Hyacinthe Thiandoum on 28 May 1964, and furthered his studies at the University of Dakar, from where he obtained his licentiate in the classical languages of Latin and Greek.

[1][2] Sarr then did pastoral work at the parish of Saint-Thérèse in Dakar, as assistant to the groups of Catholic Action.

He received his episcopal consecration on the following 24 November from Archbishop Thiandoum, with Bishops Théophile Cadoux, MSC, and Augustin Sagna serving as co-consecrators, in an open-air ceremony at the grand square of Collège Pie XII in Kaolack.

Sarr discourages abortion, noting that the synod fathers affirmed that life must be respected from beginning to its natural end.

[7] In 2009, Cardinal Sarr defended the Pope over a controversy surrounding the latter's refusal to approve any sort of condom use in the fight against AIDS.