Alex Crow, a Catholic priest who was ordained in 2021, has been officially removed from the priesthood, which was announced by the Archdiocese of Mobile.
In a statement issued by the Archdiocese this past Friday declaring Crow’s laicization, the church officiated his permanent suspension, which was first enacted in the summer on a temporary basis after he absconded to Italy with an 18-year-old girl in July, abandoning his ministry in Mobile. They explained that after careful investigation into Crow there was no evidence for criminal charges, but that “the Archbishop shared in August that he saw no way back to the priesthood for Crow, considering his scandalous behavior.”
The statement also reads that Crow initiated the process for his own laicization- which was supported by the Archbishop and the rest of the Archdiocese- and it has now officially been granted, defrocking Crow from the priesthood completely.
“Crow is no longer a member of the clergy, nor has any of the privileges or responsibilities of the priesthood. The decision of Pope Francis was final. There is no appeal,” the statement reads.
At the end of July 2023, the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office announced they would be investigating Alex Crow, 30, after he took a trip to Europe with a 2023 graduate of McGill Toolen Catholic School. In August, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office released two letters written by Crow before he left the country with the girl, in which he claimed they were married.
This November, Crow and the girl returned to the Mobile area in Alabama but she would not answer any questions regarding her disappearance and has maintained her anonymity from the public, leading the DA to close the case. Allegedly, WKRG News 5 received a copy of the marriage certificate for the two that was notarized on Nov. 17, 2023.
Crow has yet to publicly comment on his defrocking.
