Pope Francis has formally removed an Alabama priest who ran off to Italy with an 18-year-old woman and later returned to the United States and married her.
The priest, Alex Crow, requested the process, called laicization, the Archdiocese of Mobile said in a statement.
The Archdiocese of Mobile removed Crow from his post last summer and asked Mobile police to investigate whether Crow initiated the relationship with the woman when she was still a student at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, CrimeOnline reported.
A statement from the archdiocese said that authorities found “insufficient evidence to make criminal charges against Crow” — a conclusion the archdiocese shared — but said Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi had already concluded “that he saw no way back to the priesthood for Crow, considering his scandalous behavior.”
“Crow initiated the process for his own laicization, a move the Archbishop supported,” said the statement from the archdiocese. “It has now been granted. Crow is no longer a member of the clergy, nor has any of the privileges or responsibilities of the priesthood. This decision of Pope Francis is final. There is no appeal.”
Crow, 30, and Taylor Victoria Harrison ran off to Italy shortly after her graduation from McGill-Toolen, where Crow had frequently been a guest lecturer, AL.com reported. They remained in Europe until authorities determined no charges would be filed, then returned to Mobile in November, marrying late that month.
Harrison’s family had said they believed she went with Crow of her own accord.
