I'd be interested in seeing the factual evidence to support this claim, particularly with regard to St. Peter and his wife. Considered the first pope, did he become celibate when assuming that role? Can't imagine many women putting up with that one. "Honey, I'm the first Bishop of Rome...no more sex for you."
I don’t think this is historically accurate. The church was losing much of its riches because the local priests - who controlled much of the wealth (land, buildings, cash) in villages and towns - were getting married, and/or having children to whom the riches flowed upon death. Often times the church leadership provided the only realy competition to whatever royalty or peerage had local control. The continued dilution of the assets of the church required that something drastic - like priestly celibacy - be instituted to stem the problem.
There was once a very interesting take on Catholic religious chastity.
It was remarked that sex is very energy intensive and draining, so by refraining from sex, priests and nuns typically have much more vitality than do other people. And while this vitality does not directly translate into things like physical strength, it does provide extra resources in time of great need.
In the much more violent world of the past, where priests and nuns were common targets, it was noted that they were much harder to kill, by villains, than ordinary people. They might kill a few, but they would never wipe them out. This alone means that the Catholic church survives today in places where any other, non-celibate church would have been annihilated.