CNA Staff, Jan 8, 2024 / 13:15 pm
A former Alabama priest has officially been laicized after abandoning his assignment and marrying an 18-year-old, the Archdiocese of Mobile said in a statement announcing the Vatican’s decree.
Alex Crow was originally suspended from ministry in July after he abandoned his assignment in the archdiocese and left the country with a woman one month after she turned 18.
The archdiocese had asked civil authorities to investigate the matter, and the Mobile district attorney’s office did not find evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Crow. The two reportedly signed a notarized marriage certificate on Nov. 17.
In a statement released on Friday, the archdiocese said it had “received notice that the laicization of Alex Crow is complete, effective immediately.”