Alabama priest Alex Crowe is stripped of his priesthood by the Vatican after fleeing to Italy with a 'well-groomed' 18-year-old boy

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by Richard Pollina

issued
January 7, 2024, 5:05 a.m. ET

Disgraced Alabama priest Alex Crowe, who fled to Italy and married a Catholic school teacher 10 months after graduating, has been officially removed from the priesthood, the church announced.

“The Archdiocese of Mobile has received notification that Alex Crowe’s canonization has been completed and is effective immediately,” said a statement released Friday by Archbishop Thomas J. Roddy’s office.

Crowe, 30, had asked to be removed from the priesthood, a request that was “confirmed in a letter by Pope Francis.”

The church said the clergy removal process, which strips bishops, priests and deacons of their duties as officers of the Catholic Church, can begin when a ministerial leader is absent for six months or more.

“Before the end of the six-month period, Crowe began the process of converting himself into a layman, a move that the archbishop supported,” the statement reads.

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

Church shared that Crowe did not appeal the move during the proceedings.

The now unchallenged clergyman, an 18-year-old graduate of McGill-Toulen High School where Crow was a frequent guest lecturer, fled to Italy in July 2023.

Their romantic relationship came to light after police caught a love letter Crowe sent to a teenage girl on Valentine’s Day when he was still a student.

Mr Roddy condemned Mr Crowe’s actions as “totally unbecoming of a priest” and said: “He will no longer be able to perform any priestly services, will not be able to tell people he is a priest, will not be able to dress like a priest. I can’t even do that,” he criticized.

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Birch told NBC 15 in the summer of 2023 that he believed “some sort of grooming” was taking place by Crowe, who was ordained in 2021.

Birch noted that Crowe, who was once in a rock band, was fascinated by demonology and had told people he would travel to Europe with teenagers to perform exorcisms.

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

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office conducted an ultimately fruitless investigation into possible wrongdoing by the former priest.

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

Although he could not pinpoint any crime on Crowe, in August 2023 the Archbishop of Mobile said, “Given his scandalous conduct, we considered there to be no path for Crowe to return to the priesthood.”

“I pray that this decision is another way we can all move towards peace after these disturbing events. I pray that God’s grace will bring healing to all.” We continue to pray,” the church’s statement on Friday concluded.