An Alabama Catholic priest, who ran off to Italy with a teenager months ago, is now married to the teenager, and an archbishop revealed Wednesday, Nov. 22, that the Vatican will likely move to officially dismiss him from the priesthood.
The sexual crime
Alex Crow, a 30-year-old Catholic priest, married the 18-year-old woman who just graduated from high school in 2023, according to a marriage certificate filed in Mobile County Monday, Nov. 20.
She only turned 18 back in June, the document states. The teenager attended McGill-Toolen Catholic High, where Crow occasionally visited theology classes, according to reports.
Their first wrong step
The pair’s affair became evident when authorities caught wind of a love letter she received from Crow on Valentine’s Day while she was still a student.
Crow and the woman went to Europe over the summer before returning back to the US earlier this month, AL.com reported.
Crow, who has already been suspended, has likely given his last sermon, Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi signaled this week.
‘The recent news of Crow’s civil marriage only confirms the Archbishop’s judgment. Archbishop Rodi anticipates that the Vatican will eventually laicize Alex Crow,’ read a statement from the Archdiocese of Mobile.
He will be no longer a minster
Rodi, in a previous statement, lambasted the spiritual leader and said his actions were ‘totally unbecoming of a priest.’
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‘He has been informed by the archbishop that he may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest,’ he said.
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said over the summer he believed ‘there was some grooming that’s gone on’ between Crow, who was ordained in 2021, and the teenager, considering their age gap.
But the district attorney in the county announced earlier this month an investigation into criminal wrongdoing was closed, according to reports.
District Attorney Keith Blackwood said the young woman met with prosecutors and declined to answer any questions.
