Disgraced Alabama Priest Alex Crow Formally Removed by Vatican After Running Off to Italy With Teenage Student

Almost half a year after a 30-year-old Catholic priest fled to Italy with a teenage girl, who is now his wife, the Vatican announced it has removed him from the priesthood.

Alex Crow of Alabama has been formally “laicized,” or removed, from the priesthood, according to an announcement made on Friday by the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama Live reports. The laicization was reportedly confirmed in a letter from the Pope.

“I pray that this decision is one more way in which we can all move forward toward peace after these unsettling events,” said Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of the Archdiocese of Mobile. “I continue to pray for God’s grace to bring healing for all.”

The Archdiocese of Mobile already stripped Crow of his duties back in July and said that he had “abandoned his assignment,” according to AL.com. Crow and his teenage girlfriend eventually returned to the States in November and were quickly wed. She had turned 18 in June.

Crow had left on July 24 with the then 18-year-old girl, who graduated high school in May. The priest was a volunteer at his teen’s high school and the two met when she was still a minor. Crow and the teen went on their trip without telling the girl’s parents, who lost contact with her.

After news of Crow and the teen’s trip broke, several people contacted police with allegations that Crow engaged in inappropriate conduct with other female students at the Catholic school in Mobile, per previous Messenger reporting.

A search for Crow and the teen was launched as her parents traveled to Rome to plead with her to come home and an Alabama archbishop ordered him to return to the U.S. The two eventually did return in November.

Authorities have already said that they won’t be pursuing charges against Crow after the teen girl “declined to answer any questions” about her disappearance or trip, according to WKRG News.

The archdiocese also already has said that while Crow’s behavior “has been scandalous,” they do not have any information that indicates Crow committed any crime.