Alex Crow, 30, used to be a priest. He also used to work as a guest lecturer at McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile Ala., where 18-year-old Taylor Victoria Harrison recently graduated from.
This summer, the pair left Mobile for Europe, where they stayed for around four months, according to Alabama Live. Their departure caused a stir – Crow was stripped of his duties by the Archdiocese of Mobile and both the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Mobile County District Attorney’s Office conducted investigations.
Per the Alabama Live report, these investigations were “fruitless,” and it now appears that the couple are married. It cited documents filed with the Mobile County Probate Court showing that Crow and Harrison married last Friday.
“Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi announced in July that he had suspended Alex Crow and prohibited him from acting, dressing, or presenting himself as a priest,” said a statement. “Archbishop Rodi additionally shared in August that he saw no way back to the priesthood for Alex Crow.”
Alabama Live said this statement indicates Crow will likely be laicized by the Vatican. That means he would be formally be removed as a member of the clergy.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, there are an estimated 37,302 diocesan and religious-order priests in the nation. In recent years, the worldwide number of seminarians, priests, and men and women in religious orders declined even as total number of Catholics has increased, according to Vatican statistics cited by Catholic News Service.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis discussed the possibility of possibly allowing married priests and said the discipline of celibacy could possibly be reviewed. He noted that other Christian religions allow clergy members to get married.