Well, how could priestly celibacy last for so many years and the number of priests not go into a dangerous level, until the latter half of the 20th century. All the other years are proof that celibacy worked.
Priestly celibacy was poorly observed until Gregory the Great said, in the 11th century, that priests could not validly marry. And, mandatory celibacy has been more or less observed in the last thousand years.
On other threads in the past, some Catholics have said that it would be a good thing to force Catholics to do without the Mass for three out of four Sundays in order to shock them into ponying up enough priests to resolve the shortage.
Perhaps you agree with that strategy. I don't.