Catholic historian Ludwig von Pastor's The history of the popes, from the close of the Middle Ages (1891) (vol. V): Corruption of the Italian Clergy of all Ranks, 169ff.; Fra Girolama Savonarola 181ff. likewise did not attribute to clerical celibacy the need for reform that was one of the reasons for holding the Council of Trent.
The world-wide number of priests declined from 419,728 in 1970 to a low of 403,280 in 1985. Since then it has risen to 412,236 in 2013, although the Catholic population has nearly doubled in this same period (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University, District of Columbia, U.S.A. "Frequently requested church statistics"Archived 20 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine accessed 11/2013)
General Audience text in Italian: "Rientra, come s’è detto, nella logica della consacrazione."
See Proposition 11 in the final list of Propositions approved by the Synod and submitted to the Pope. Available in Italian only, it reads, in the relevant part: "Certuni hanno fatto riferimento ai "viri probati", ma quest’ ipotesi è stata valutata come una strada da non percorrere" (Some made reference to viri probati, but this hypothesis was evaluated as a path not to be taken).
The world-wide number of priests declined from 419,728 in 1970 to a low of 403,280 in 1985. Since then it has risen to 412,236 in 2013, although the Catholic population has nearly doubled in this same period (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University, District of Columbia, U.S.A. "Frequently requested church statistics"Archived 20 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine accessed 11/2013)
