Clergy - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition clergy

Definition :

Clergy [fr. clerge, Fr.; clerus, Lat.], the assembly or body of clerks or ecclesiastics set apart from the rest of the people or laity to superintend the public worship of God and the other ceremonies of religion, and to administer spiritual counsel and instruction.

--The clergy were before the Reformation divided into (1) regular, who lived under certain rules, being of some religious order, and were called men of religion, or the religious, such as abbots, priors, monks, etc.; and (2) secular, who did not live under any certain rules of the religious orders, as bishops, deans, parsons, etc. Now the term comprehends all persons in holy orders and in ecclesiastical offices, viz., archbishops, bishops, deans and chapters, archdeacons, rural deans, parsons (either rectors or vicars) and curates, to which may be added parish clerks. The clergy are exempt from serving on juries; restrained from farming more than 80 acres, except with the sanction of the bishop, and cannot carryon any trade. It is a misdemeanour to obstruct or assault them while in the exercise of their duties (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 36).

The clergy, by 41 Geo. 3, c. 63, are disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons. By the Ministers of (English) Religion (Removal of Disqualifications) Act, 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5, c. 54), they are no longer disqualified for the office of borough councillor; and they may be county councillors, by s. 2 of the (English) Local Government Acts, 1888 and 1933, and may also be parish councillors; but the (English) Clerical Disabilities Act, 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 91) (amended in 1934 by 24 & 25 Geo. 5, No. 1) enables them, by executing and enrolling a deed of relinquishment, to obtain freedom from their disabilities, and generally to assume the status of laymen.

The (English) Church Discipline Act, 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 86), provides for the prosecution of clergymen for offences in matters of doctrine; the (English) Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 85), for offences in matters of ritual; and the (English) Clergy Discipline Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 32), for convictions for crimes or for immoralities therein described: see, e.g., Bishop of Lincoln v. Wakeford, 1921 (1) AC 813. And the (English) Benefices (Ecclesiastical Duties) Measure, 1926 (16 & 17 Geo. 5, No. 8), contains provisions for dealing with cases where ecclesiastical duties are inadequately performed. See CLERICAL SUBSCRIPTION, infra: also Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Church and Clergy'; Phillimore's Ecclesiastical Law; Dale's Clergyman's Legal Handbook; and Whitehead's Church Law.