Continued:The Roman Catholic Church in Flanders is experiencing increasing problems to find new priests. This year only one priest is being ordained.
The figure comes from the Flemish Christian weekly Tertio.
The sole ordination will occur in the bishopric of Bruges in West Flanders.
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuw.../09061_priests
A group that choses chastity as an evolutionary strategy will eventually become extinct. No surprises there.
Celibacy is meant to turn the priesthood into a non-hereditary elite, because none of their bastards could claim legitimacy and try to usurp the offices of their paternal ancestor (although Cesare Borgia certainly tried), which otherwise often led to conflicts that the liege lord usually lost. The political authority therefore came to rely on the priests as a counterbalance to hereditary nobility.
Having lost their importance in the political and social structure, it is no surprise that recruitment numbers are down.
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