Description:
On the basis of data published by the press in 1969, the Author, after determining their origin, analyses their importance and relates them to other elements of first-hand information in order to show their internal dynamism. Placing this data in world perspective he attempts to estimate the total number of priests who at present leave the ministry. Finally the Author shows the inadequacy of the legal framework in which the phenomenon is presently considered and he concludes by emphasizing that the decline in the number of clergy is well under way.