ICB,

You wrote:

"Why so many saintly Popes during the era of the ecumenical councils, and so few saintly Popes afterward ?"

Please prove your question is based on a correct premise first. You say "saintly". What reason do you have to believe the popes have been less saintly the last 400 years than the 400 or so years of the early councils? You're not actually dumb enough to believe that the popes of recent centuries were less saintly just because there have been fewer declared canonized saints are you? I mean, seriously, you can't be so stupid as to NOT realize it often takes centuries for canonizations, right? Just a few years ago the Church declared Queen Jadwiga a canonized saint. She died in around 1400. It took nearly 600 years to complete the canonization process which was called for immediately after her death. The Church uses a formal process and has not used acclamation as a method in well over a millenium. The early saints were all declared as such by acclamation.

You do realize this right, ICB?

By the way, is Bart. I a false shepherd?