Alabama priest Alex Crow, who fled to Italy with ‘groomed’ 18-year-old, defrocked from priesthood by Vatican

Disgraced Alabama priest Alex Crow — who ran off to Italy and later married a catholic school teen months after she graduated — has been officially removed from the priesthood, the church announced.

“The Archdiocese of Mobile has received notice that the laicization of Alex Crow is complete, effective immediately,” a statement provided by the office of Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi read Friday.

Crow, 30, had asked to be removed from the priesthood, with the request being “confirmed in a letter by our Holy Father, Pope Francis.”

Laicization — the process of removing a clergy member, which strips the bishop, priest, or deacons from conducting duties as figures of the catholic church — can be initiated after a service leader is absent for more than six months, according to the church.

“Before the six-month period was over, Crow initiated the process for his own laicization, a move the Archbishop supported,” the statement read.

As of Friday, Crow no longer has any “privileges or responsibilities of the priesthood.”

The Chruch shared that Crow did not appeal the move during the process.

The now-defrocked priest and an 18-year-old graduate of McGill-Toolen High School, of which Crow had often served as a guest lecturer, fled to Italy in July 2023.

Their love affair became evident when law enforcement caught wind of love letters Crow sent the teen on Valentine’s Day while she was still a student.

Rodi condemned Crow’s actions as “totally unbecoming of a priest” and that “he may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest.”

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch told NBC 15 over the summer of 2023 he believed “there was some grooming that’s gone on” by Crow, who was ordained in 2021.

Burch noted that Crow, who was once in a rock band, was fascinated with demonology and told people he was going to Europe with the teen to perform exorcisms.

After spending four months abroad, the pair returned to Mobile, Ala., where the 30-year-old disgraced priest married the teen, AL.com reported.

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Mobile County District Attorney’s Office conducted what would ultimately be fruitless investigations into possible wrongdoing by the former priest.

District Attorney Keith Blackwood said the young woman met with prosecutors and declined to answer any questions before closing the investigation last November.

Though no crime could be pinned on Crow, in August 2023, the Archbishop of Mobile said, “he saw no way back to the priesthood for Crow, considering his scandalous behavior.”

“I pray that this decision is one more way in which we can all move toward peace after these unsettling events. I continue to pray for God’s grace to bring healing for all,” Friday’s statement from the church concluded.