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Alabama priest who fled to Italy with teen he later married is expected to be defrocked

State records show that a suspended Alabama priest recently married the 18-year-old woman he fled to Italy with this summer, and an archbishop said Wednesday that he expects the Vatican to pursue the man’s official dismissal from the priesthood.

A marriage certificate filed Monday in Mobile County shows that Alex Crow, a 30-year-old Catholic priest in south Alabama, married the 18-year-old. Crow left the country in late July with the teen who is a recent graduate of McGill-Toolen High School. Crow was not an employee at the school but sometimes visited theology classes there, news outlets reported. The marriage certificate indicates the woman turned 18 in June.

Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi announced in July that he had suspended Crow and forbidden him from acting, dressing, or presenting himself as a priest. Rodi later said he saw no way for Crow to return to the priesthood.

Ulrich_the_Old ,

he should be raped and murdered in prison.

Default_Defect ,
@Default_Defect@midwest.social avatar

So the church is mad that he’s still with her after she turned 18? Because we don;t see this kind of hubbub when its small children.

520 ,

The church is mad that they made it official and got married. And yes the church is fucked

TheBat ,
@TheBat@lemmy.world avatar

defrocked

“They can’t help themselves, can they?”

  • Jimmy Carr
Cruxifux ,

So let me get this straight. Get caught fucking a ten year old boy = church covers it up and you keep your priesthood. Marry an adult woman = lose your priesthood? What?

Mamertine ,

Yes,

Though I will point out that adult woman was likely being groomed while she was a child.

Cruxifux ,

Yeah probably. But my point is the church doesn’t generally care about that part.

mosiacmango , (edited )

She turned 18 in June, and they left to Italy together in July.

You think he met her the same month she turned 18 and then they fell madly in love and fled the country a month later?

Or is it more likely he had been manipulating and grooming a child at the school he used to visit as a priest?

Cruxifux ,

Yes but I don’t think that’s why the church is removing his priesthood. I don’t think they’re allowed to get married.

DemBoSain ,
@DemBoSain@midwest.social avatar

The mistake was getting married.

HawlSera ,

They didn’t get caught… they confessed and you can’t act on a confession…

Though the rule is being changed to fix this loophole

Cruxifux ,

That’s a bullshit rule that the church is using to supersede the law and enables child abuse. Everyone who knows and helps cover it up is complicit and it should be conspiracy to commit child abuse at the very least.

Religious dogma should NEVER be above the law.

HawlSera ,

Which is why the rule is being abandoned

Cruxifux ,

Dude, I think it’s a little fucking late to get credit for abandoning this rule, which they have yet to actually even abandon and is probably being used to protect pedophiles AS WE SPEAK.

HawlSera ,

Naw, Pope Francis is cracking down

modeler ,

The Catholic church is self-governed by Canon Law - its own law that’s been around since the collapse of the Roman Empire. For a good portion of this time, Canon Law superseded national laws that applied to people who weren’t priests. I think the church still privately believes that only Canon Law matters, and they can basically ignore everyone else. That’s why they have protected child abusers, rapists and all other kinds of shit their medieval claptrap says isn’t important. They are a bunch of arrogant pricks who believe themselves better than, you know, people who don’t abuse those with less power.

Cruxifux ,

Yes, exactly. This guy gets it.

originalucifer ,
@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com avatar

ha, yeah, no grooming going on under the guise of theology education here folks... no sir. move along

520 ,

And yet I think it's more the 'marriage' part the Church cares more about. They DGAF about priests raping altar boys but as soon as one gets married that's when the real punishments kick in.

Shows you where their priorities are.

HawlSera ,

They do care, but the issue was priests confessing. You can’t punish someone who confesses or reveal what was confessed.

This is being changed to fix the obvious and heavily exploited loopholes this causes.

Don’t act like the Catholic Church is actively encouraging this behavior

520 , (edited )

Don’t act like the Catholic Church is actively encouraging this behavior

Do you intend to ignore the fact that the Church had an active hand in covering up the abuses and protecting the perpetrators?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sex_abuse_cases_in_the_United_States

Pyr_Pressure ,

Only the person that was confessed to is “required” to keep quiet.

The rest of the church knows what’s going on and still doesn’t bother investigating and punishing those responsible.

stifle867 ,

Is this even newsworthy? Two adults got married. Nobody was hurt. They started a new life in another country. So what…

originalucifer ,
@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com avatar

dude was grooming a high school kid, married her the moment she turned 18.

adults?? neither of these 2 were acting like adults.

stifle867 ,

The article doesn’t say anything about that. It says there was an investigation that was later closed with no findings of wrong doing.

And yes it’s borderline that he waited til she was 18, but he DID wait til she was 18. Isn’t that the entire point?

And she is 18 and has the right to make her own choices/mistakes now. Are you going to tell someone who is an adult in the eyes of the law that they can’t choose whom to marry, or that the decision to marry is somehow morally wrong? Because that’s exactly the implication that the church is trying to push here.

Maturity is a different question entirely.

Lmaydev ,

No the point is not to groom children.

If they married as soon as they turned 18 they were almost certainly in a relationship before that.

So it seems this priest used their position to groom a child.

stifle867 ,

I would 100% agree you with you if not for the fact that they already investigating this exact possibility including subpoena the phone records and eventually closed the investigation without saying anything wrong happened. It’s definitely suss and worthy of a proper investigation but when that happens and nothing comes of it what then?

IF it did happen we can only hope that she comes to her senses and reveals that information herself. But she’s an adult now and that choice is entirely up to her. Nobody can force her. The government can’t get involved and say no you aren’t allowed to get married.

Believe me I have absolutely no love for the catholic church or really any religion in general. But I definitely do believe in civil liberties and despite how uncomfortable it can be at times this is how our system works.

MNByChoice , (edited )

Edit: I am wrong. I had attributed the investigation to the Catholic Church. It was a DA.

The district attorney in Mobile County earlier this month announced that it had closed an investigation into criminal wrongdoing in the pair’s relationship.

So never mind.

A very untrustworthy group investigated. They did not release any information on how they investigated. It was not a criminal investigation.

Is it newsworthy? Unlikely as this is so common.

stifle867 ,

Can you expand on that first part? I’m not familiar with the ins and out of that department and feel like you may have more information.

Mouselemming ,

“the young woman came to a meeting with an attorney and declined to answer questions.”

That’s not an investigation. The DA closed the investigation because she didn’t rat on him. With his attorney keeping an eye on her.

They can’t make her testify against him because he’s her husband.

In the old-fashioned sense, because she’s married, she’s not ruined. Case closed.

Also the Catholic Church is politically powerful, and while they’re prepared to kick him out, they’ll also hush up police investigations.

SheeEttin ,

Sketchy as hell, yes, but if there’s no evidence of wrongdoing the law can’t, and shouldn’t, take action against him.

520 ,

Until evidence comes to light. This is key. They have fuck all of a case right now and if they blow their load too quickly, he'll be protected by double jeopardy laws.

Akasazh ,
@Akasazh@feddit.nl avatar

The news is that the Catholic church actually berates one of its priests. Especially for something that’s technically legal.

stifle867 ,

Hahaha I suppose you’re right about that.

SheeEttin ,

Legal for us, not legal for priests by church law.

520 ,

But raping kids is apparently A-OK!

HawlSera ,

…she was being groomed

interceder270 ,

For how long?

HawlSera ,

Literally forever. You can confess that you killed a man to a priest, and the priest can’t do shit about it, even if the FBI comes up with a warrant

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Wait… so priests can get married and they only stop being priests if you take it up directly with the Vatican?

Waluigis_Talking_Buttplug ,

It’s a bureaucracy

TurnItOff_OnAgain ,

It’s not like the catholic church is full of the virtue they espouse

GONADS125 ,

It’s not like the Catholic church exactly condones pedophilia and rampant sexual abuse, but look how extensively it permeates the institution.

When wondering “Would the Catholic church really do X?” I find the best practice is to instead ask myself: “Does the pope shit in the woods?”

stifle867 ,

I prefer the alternative “does the Pope’s dick fit in a donut?”

cgarret3 ,

I don’t know?

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Wouldn’t that highly depend on the diameter of the donut hole?

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

It’s hard to make a donuts too small.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

There used to be a place here that sold you four tiny “gourmet” donuts for way too much money. Unsurprisingly, it lasted about a month and a half. I think even the smallest dick could fit through those donut holes.

cmhickman358 ,

My personal favorite is, “does the Pope shit in his hat?”

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