The number of Catholic priests who leave the ministry to marry is less than often claimed, partly because some 'defectors' come back again, according to a prestigious Catholic monthly.
Between 1964 and 2004 almost 70,000 priests abandoned the Church in order to get married but over 11,000 returned to the priesthood later, said the Jesuit magazine Civilta' Cattolica, citing official Vatican data.
This meant that the current number of married priests could not be more than 59,000, it continued, adding that estimates of 100,000 or more in the media were "without foundation".
The number of Catholic priests around the world was 406,411 at the end of 2005.
The Catholic Church's rule that priests must be celibate regularly comes under the spotlight in public debates over priests sex scandals and also because of opposition by critics such as excommunicated Zambian archbishop Emmanuel Milingo.
Civilta' Cattolica, whose monthly content goes to the Vatican for approval before publishing, admitted that the proportion of defections was up slightly in recent years but said it was still not comparable with the 1970s.
Between 2000 and 2004 0.26% of priests defected to marry, it said.
It also said that the Vatican was taking a "more understanding and maternal" approach to these priests than in the past, frequently allowing them to take up the ministry again.
Late last year Pope Benedict rejected calls from Archbishop Milingo to accept married priests in the Catholic Church.
"The value of the choice of priestly celibacy was reaffirmed, in line with Catholic tradition," a Vatican statement said after the pope discussed the issue with top aides.
The statement came after Milingo wrote an open letter to the pope, calling for immediate steps to allow married priests in the Catholic Church.
He said the Church was in "dire straits" because of a vocation crisis and that allowing priests to marry would help resolve the shortage.
Milingo has founded an association of like-minded clerics to promote his cause. The organisation - called Married Priests Now! - says about 150,000 Catholic priests have left the Church in order to marry.
Monsignor Milingo was excommunicated in September after he presided over an unauthorised ceremony in Washington to consecrate four married priests as bishops.
The Vatican has never shown any sign of altering its long tradition of demanding celibacy from priests, despite calls for a rethink from dissidents in the US and elsewhere.
