Note 1616 — XXXI. THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY.
Reading edition
The comparative strength of the ecclesiastical militia is an important element in considering the condition of the church and its influence on the laity. I have already quoted statistics with regard to France, Belgium, and Austria, and will here append those for some of the other states and cities of Europe as given by Prof. von Schulte in his work on the Newer Catholic Orders (N. Y. Nation, Aug. 1st, 1872, p. 75).
Prussia, one ecclesiastic for every 584 Catholics, of all ages.
Bavaria, one for every 300 Catholics.
Germany at large, one for every 481.
Aix-la-Chapelle, one for every 110.
Cologne, one for every 313.
Münster, one for every 61.
Trèves, one for every 56.
Paderborn, one for every 33.
In the old Kingdom of Naples, by the census of 1842, there were 55,167 ecclesiastics in a population of 6,145,492, making a proportion of one to 112 (Penka, Uberior Cœlibatus Sacerdotalis Expositio, Cracoviæ, 1846).