Controversy Surrounds 30-Year-Old Priest’s Marriage to Alabama Teen After Fleeing to Italy

A suspended Catholic priest who fled the country for Italy with an 18-year-old woman earlier this year has married her, court documents show. Alex Crow, 30, shocked his south Alabama community over the summer after he was accused of developing a relationship with a high school student and then leaving for Europe with her. The 18-year-old student is a recent graduate of McGill-Toolen High School. While Crow didn’t teach any classes at McGill-Toolen, he “did visit some Theology classrooms and heard confessions” during the second semester of 2021, local television station WKRG reported citing a Facebook post shared by the school on July 28. The incident led the Archdiocese of Mobile to remove Crow from ministry and suspend his priestly faculties. He was also ordered to return home immediately “under his promise of obedience.” Earlier this month, the archdiocese released a statement saying church officials were “relieved to learn” that Crow and the young woman had returned to Alabama. On Wednesday, multiple local outlets reported the two had signed a marriage certificate in Mobile County. The document, filed Monday, indicates the woman turned 18 in June. In a statement released Wednesday, the archdiocese said “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.”