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The body of people ordained for religious service. See Usage Note at collective noun.
[Middle English clergie, from Old French (from Vulgar Latin *clercīa, from Late Latin clēricus; see clerk) and from Old French clergié, body of clerks (from Vulgar Latin *clercātus, from Late Latin clēricātus, from clēricus, clerk, cleric).]
During the Middle Ages and the ancien régime, the Catholic clergy formed the First Estate in the French society of orders. Its members and institutions were privileged, exempt from military service and from most taxes, such as the taille, octrois, aides, on the grounds that the Church's true function was to pray to God. In processions the clergy usually came first. Clerical justice existed alongside royal justice, and although the Gallican Church was inextricably bound up with the monarchy, it was also a fully distinct institution with representation. From the 1580s a Grande Assemblée du Clergé met every ten years with a petite assemblée taking place five years later, and a number of special assemblies were called; all of these might discuss questions of finance and theology.
The order was divided into secular clergy—archbishops, bishops, abbés, canons, curés, vicaires, deacons—and the regular clergy of the religious orders. A further distinction was made between the upper clergy of bishops and abbots, and the lower clergy of monks, curés, and canons (but note that the term abbé was commonly used to mean any priest having taken orders, not just wealthy abbots). This clerical divide was both social and economic: the upper clergy was recruited overwhelmingly (about 85 per cent from 1600 to 1789) from the nobility, with an increasing tendency towards the older and sword nobility; the lower clergy came from the bourgeoisie, the artisanal class, and the richer peasantry, with a decided decline in social origins taking place from the mid-18th c. The regular clergy of Benedictines, Cistercians, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Augustines had been founded chiefly from the 10th to the 13th centuries, the Minims in 1440. As the nature of piety altered so too did the nature of vocations, and the foundations of the 17th c. were rarely for mendicants but rather for more active orders. The two decades before the Revolution saw a rapid decline in the number of regulars, by about one-third.
The Catholic Church was immensely wealthy; its many separate institutions owned together about 10-20 per cent of France, with consequent seigneurial dues and rents. Half of its revenue came from the clerical tithe, the dîme, paid by Catholics and representing about 7 per cent (an average from wide local variations) of the crop, levied usually in kind. However, although the clergy avoided taxation by paying a ‘free gift’ (don gratuit) to the king, the crown siphoned off some wealth in the form of loans secured upon the Church which were never in fact repaid. The lower clergy was poor. Incomes were very low, a portion congrue for a curé being 200-300 livres in the 17th c., rising to 500 livres after 1768, while vicaires received sometimes less than 100 livres. Differences of wealth and the evident misuse of the riches of the Church fuelled the hostility of the lower clergy to the episcopal establishment. The revenues of the upper clergy were large—episcopal incomes averaged 30, 000-40, 000 livres in the 18th c., with many sees bringing in twice that amount or more—and this wealth enabled younger sons of the nobility to live in a truly noble style. The Concordat of Bologna (1519) had seen the papacy recognize clerical sees as an important element in the royal system of appointments and therefore of patronage, with a portion of revenues often being diverted to non-clerical candidates through the ‘commendatory’ benefice. Benefices were conferred on suitable candidates by the king's confessor and some influential councillors; under Louis XIV the feuille des bénéfices was held by the Jesuit Pères La Chaise and Le Tellier successively.
In the Middle Ages neither the secular clergy nor the laity was always ‘Christian’ according to the definition inculcated after the 16th-c. Catholic reformation associated with the Council of Trent [see Counter-Reformation]. Before this, clerics were frequently uneducated, absent from their sees, of dissolute habits, and unable to fulfil their pastoral duties, while Catholicism was a mixture of animism, popular religion, ‘pagan’ rituals, and often ill-understood received theology. A reform was long overdue [see also Reformation]. The great age of religious renewal was the 17th c., ‘the century of saints’, the first half of which witnessed the wider establishment of the Jesuits in France and the foundation of numerous new orders by devoted Christians such as Bérulle (the Oratorians), St François de Sales (the Visitandines), St Vincent de Paul (the Lazarists, the Sisters of Charity), and Angélique Arnauld, who reformed the convent of Port-Royal. Around the mid-century seminaries were founded to train priests, and by the end of Louis XIV's reign almost every diocese had one. Congrégations specialized in charitable care, teaching, and missionary work, with the numerous female orders offering opportunities for active participation by daughters of the bourgeoisie and nobility. The result was a better-trained, active, and missionary clergy able to persuade and pressurize the population to adopt the more interior and hierarchical vision of the Church.
With education of the priesthood, theological differences developed wider constituencies—for example, on the question of grace debated between Jansenists and Jesuits—and the lower clergy began to assert its rights vis-à-vis the episcopate according to the arguments of Edmond Richer. In the 18th c. the clergy was divided by Jansenism and under assault from the Enlightenment. Although many curés welcomed the Revolution at first, it was to bring turmoil to the clergy, nationalizing Church property, abolishing the religious orders, and requiring a divisive oath to the Constitution Civile in 1791; poverty, strife, and persecution was the lot of bishops and priests as anticlericalism took root, together with a renewal of popular and superstitious religious practices in many areas.
The 19th c. brought recovery and renewal for the clergy, whose numbers had drastically fallen. From 1796 to 1880 nearly 400 new congrégations were founded, and the number of nuns increased tenfold to 130, 000. A feminization of piety occurred as women in a male-dominated society responded to the opportunity for self-fulfilment as sisters, and the Marian cult flourished. The parish priesthood expanded rapidly under the Second Empire to 56, 000 priests in 1869 for 42, 000 parishes; they were now better educated but, under the anticlerical Third Republic, poor and beleaguered village notables of the Right, often subservient to the local élite. Recruitment was mainly from rural areas in what have, since the Revolution, remained traditionally Catholic and conservative regions: the west, Brittany, the Massif Central, and Lorraine.
The 1880s marked a high point for vocations, followed by stabilization and, since World War II, drastic decline. Society was becoming increasingly secular, with only nominal Catholicism for rites of passage being practised by more than 50 per cent in 1986. Diocesan priests fell in number from 46, 000 in 1960 to 28, 695 in 1985, of whom only 10 per cent were under 40, and ordinations have fallen back to the low level of the era of the Revolution, only 100 a year. The Church responded to the crisis of declining numbers and increasing age of the clergy by ending its hostile relationship to the State and muting the harsher approach of the lay Action Catholique movement with its emphasis on authority, in the face of more ‘popular’ religious opinions among the laity. [For more recent developments, see Catholicism in 20th-Century France.]
[Peter Campbell]
Bibliography
This entry includes three subentries:
The clergy are often held to a higher standard than other people.
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from Greek κληρος (a lot, that which is assigned by lot (allotment) or metaphorically, heritage).
Depending on the religion, clergy usually take care of the ritual aspects of the religious life, teach or otherwise help in spreading the religion's doctrine and practices. They often deal with life-cycle events such as childbirth, baptism, circumcision, coming of age ceremonies, marriage, and death. Clergy of most faiths work both inside and outside formal houses of worship, and can be found working in hospitals, nursing homes, missions, armies, etc.
There is a significant difference between clergy and theologians; clergy have the above-mentioned duties while theologians are scholars of religion and theology, and are not necessarily clergy. A lay-person can be a theologian. The two fields, of course, often overlap. In some denominations clergy status is reserved for males. In other denominations both men and women serve as clergy.
Clergy are protected by special laws in many countries. In some cases clergy are financed (or co-financed) by the state, but usually they are financially supported by the donations of individual members of their religion.
In Christianity there is a wide range of formal and informal clergy positions, including deacons, priests, bishops, and ministers. In Islam, religious leaders are usually known as imams or ayatollahs.
In general, Christian clergy are ordained; that is, they are set apart for specific
ministry in religious rites. Others who have definite roles in worship
but who are not ordained (e.g. laypeople acting as
Types of clerics are distinguished from offices, even when the latter are commonly or exclusively occupied by clerics. A Roman Catholic cardinal, for instance, is almost without exception a cleric, but a cardinal is not a type of cleric. An archbishop is not a distinct type of cleric, but is simply a bishop who occupies a particular position with special authority. Conversely, a youth minister at a parish may or may not be a cleric.
Different churches have different systems of clergy, though churches with similar polity have similar systems.
Ordained Catholic clergymen are deacons, priests, or bishops, i.e., they belong to the diaconate, the presbyterate, or the episcopate. Among bishops, some are metropolitans, archbishops, or patriarchs, and the Pope is the Bishop of Rome. With rare exceptions, cardinals are bishops, although it was not always so; formerly, some cardinals were unordained laymen and not clergymen. The Holy See supports the activity of its clergy by the Congregation for the Clergy ([1]), a dicastery of Roman curia.
Canon Law indicates (canon 107) that "by divine institution, there are in the Church [Latin: Ecclesia] clergy [Latin: clerices] distinguished from laics". This distinction of a separate class was formed in the early times of Christianity; one early source reflecting this distinction is the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch. The original clerics were the bishops (the Twelve Apostles) and the deacons (their seventy appointed assistants); the presbyterate actually developed as a sort of semi-bishop (cf. the disused chorepiskopos, "rural bishop"). In the Catholic Church, only men can be members of the clergy.
Catholic clerical organization is hierarchical in nature: before the reforms after the Second Vatican Council, the tonsure admitted a man to the
clerical state, after which he could receive the four minor orders (ostiary, lectorate,
order of exorcists, order of acolytes) and then the major orders of subdiaconate,
diaconate, presbyterate, and finally the episcopate, which is defined in Catholic doctrine as "the fullness of Holy Orders". Today the minor orders and the subdiaconate have been
replaced by
The exceptions are certain papally-approved Indult Catholic societies as well as Eastern Catholic churches. In the Eastern Churches, clergy status is extended to all holders of minor orders (which are retained in these traditions) and seminarians. Thus, in eastern Churches, deacons, priests, bishops, etc... are all called "Father," while those not in Holy Orders are addressed most often as "Brother," despite the monastic implications of the title (in the Western or Latin Church, only priests are addressed as "Father," deacons usually being addressed as "deacon" or "mister," and bishops bay various titles such as "your excellency," "bishop," or "most reverend father in God"). This distinction can lead to some inter-Ritual issues, such as the wearing of clerical apparel and the signing of one's name, especially if attending, living, or working in a mostly Roman Rite institution.
Monks and other religious are not necessarily part of the clergy, unless they have received Holy Orders. Thus, The unordained monks, nuns, friars, and religious brothers and sisters should not be considered part of the clergy. Holy Orders is one of the Seven Sacraments considered to be of Divine institution in Catholic doctrine.
As many colleges at Medieval universities were restricted to members of the clergy, the term also survives in students' organizations at some ancient universities, such as Goliardia. These are echoes of the Medieval Goliards, the clerici vagantes. The term clerici vagantes , or "wandering clerics," comes from the Medieval phenomenon of clergy who had either abandoned their diocese or otherwise lost their incardination, and so sometimes took to wandering as bands of entertainers particularly through university towns. The Council of Trent tried to abolish this use, and only in recent times the rule was restored that a clericus has a perpetual and absolute obligation to serve the diocese or the Order to which he is assigned; only with a special authorization he can be accepted in the jurisdiction of another diocese or of another Order.
Current canon law prescribes that to be ordained a priest, an education is required of two years of scholastic philosophy study, and 4 years of theology; dogmatic and moral theology, the Holy Scriptures, and canon law have to be studied within a seminary or an ecclesiastical faculty at a university. This reflects the scholastic and intellectual traditions of the Latin Church.
Promises of celibacy and obedience are required as a condition for ordination to the diaconate and priesthood in the Latin Rite (celibacy is not required, however, for permanent deacons who are already married, but they are forbidden from marrying should their wife die); this is a disciplinary and administrative rule rather than a dogmatic and doctrinal one. Celibacy has taken many forms in different times and places. The Council in Trullo (Quinisextum Concilium) in 692 barred bishops from marrying, but did not prevent married men from becoming priests and excommunicated those deacons who divorced their spouses in order to become ordained. This rule is still followed for ordained deacons in the Latin Rite, as well as for priests in the Eastern Catholic Churches. Married men are not ordained priests in the Latin Rite, although some married priests do exist who were ordained in the Anglican church and later received into the Roman Catholic Church and re-ordained (as the Catholic Church does not recognize the validity of Holy Orders in the Anglican communion). See also Presbyterorum Ordinis for a modern statement of the nature of the Catholic priesthood.
Clergy have four classical rights:
The extent to which these rights are recognized under civil law varies dramatically from country to country, with traditionally Catholic countries being more inclined to respect these rights.
The clergy of the Orthodox Church are the bishops, priests, and deacons, the same offices identified in the New Testament and found in the early church. Bishops include archbishops, metropolitans, and patriarchs. Priests (also called presbyters or elders) include archpriests, protopresbyters, hieromonks (priest-monks) and archimandrites (senior hieromonks). Deacons also include hierodeacons (deacon-monks) archdeacons and protodeacons; subdeacons, however, are not deacons, and comprise a separate office that is not to be major clergy, as do readers, acolytes and others. Bishops are usually drawn from the ranks of the monks, and are required to be celibate; however, a non-monastic priest may be ordained to the episcopate if he no longer lives with his wife (following Canon XII of the Quinisext Council)[2]. In contemporary usage such a non-monastic priest is usually tonsured to the monastic state at some point prior to his consecration to the episcopacy. Priests and deacons may be married, provided that they are married prior to their ordination to the diaconate. If they are later divorced or remarried, they are not permitted to remarry unless they first leave the clergy and return to lay status. All Orthodox clergy must be male. There are records of deaconesses in the New Testament and in the early church; the consensus today is that this office was never equivalent to that of deacon, but had separate responsibilities. The ancient office of deaconess was subsumed by the office of abbess.
The typical progression of ordination is: reader, subdeacon, deacon, priest, bishop. Each ordination must take place in order, although it is possible to ordain a layman to all five offices in the course of three days. The organization of the Orthodox Church is both hierarchical and conciliar (or synodal). It is hierarchical in that priests, deacons, and laymen are expected to follow their bishop and to do nothing without their bishop, and in that Jesus Christ is the head of every bishop. It is conciliar or synodal in that there is no single Pope whom all the bishops follow (the Pope of Alexandria functions as a patriarch), but rather the bishops meet together in synods or councils and reach binding agreements through consensus. A bishop, even the patriarch, is bound to obey the decisions of his synod. A council with representatives from all the churches is an ecumenical council.
Although Orthodox clergy are given considerable honor by the Orthodox Church, each ordination is also viewed as a kind of martyrdom. The Orthodox cleric agrees to be a servant of both Jesus Christ and of the people of the church; many of the vestments are intended to remind him of this. Much is expected of the clergy, both practically and spiritually; consequently, they also have a special place in the litanies that are prayed, asking God to have mercy on them.
There is no set universal rule for the training of clergy, and there is some variation among the local churches. Traditionally, candidates for the priesthood either reside with their bishops for a certain period and are given personal instruction by him, or, if they are monks, receive instruction by obedience to their monastic superiors. Modern practice in most places is for them to be trained at a seminary, which may or may not be associated with a monastery. The course of study generally runs for about three years,[3] and an undergraduate degree is often a requirement for admission. Instruction is given in dogmatics, theology, ecclesiastical history, canon law, liturgics, Biblical studies, and other subjects, although emphasis varies from institution to institution. Graduation from a seminary is no guarantee of ordination however, which is solely at the discretion of the diocesan bishop. Requirements for the training of those who intend to remain in the diaconate are often less rigorous than for priests.
In the Anglican churches clergy is comprised of deacons, priests (presbyters) and bishops, in ascending order of seniority. Canon, Archdeacon, Archbishop, and the like are specific titles within these divisions. Bishops are typically overseers, presiding over a diocese composed of many parishes, with Archbishops presiding over a province, which is a group of dioceses. A parish (generally a single church) is looked after by one or more priests, although one priest may be responsible for several small parishes. New clergy are ordained deacons. Those seeking to become priests are usually ordained priest after a year of satisfactory service. During the 1960s, some Anglican churches reinstituted the diaconate as a permanent, rather than transitional, order of ministry focused on ministry that bridges the church and the world, especially ministry to those on the margins of society.
For the forms of address to be used with Anglican clergy, see Forms of Address in the United Kingdom.
During the 1980s, before the acceptance of women as equal members of the clergy, women could be ordained as 'deaconesses', who were technically distinct from deacons but carried approximately the same privileges and responsibilities. This title has now been abolished.
In the Anglican church all clergy are permitted to marry. In most branches women may become deacons or priests, but while fifteen out of 38 member churches allow for women bishops, only three have ordained any. Celebration of the Eucharist is reserved for priests and bishops.
Each branch of the Anglican church is presided over by one or more primates or metropolitans (archbishops or presiding bishops). The senior archbishop of the Anglican Communion is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who acts as leader of the Church of England and 'first among equals' of the primates of all Anglican churches.
The status of deacon, priest or bishop is a function of the person and not the job. A priest who retires is still a priest, even if they no longer have any role of religious leadership.
Clergy in Protestantism fill a wide variety of roles and functions. In many denominations, such as Methodism, Presbyterianism, and Lutheranism, the roles of clergy are similar to Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, in that they hold an ordained pastoral or priestly office, administer the sacraments, proclaim the word, lead a local church or parish, and so forth. The Baptist tradition only recognizes only two ordained positions in the church as being the Elders (Pastors) and Deacons as outlined in the third chapter of I Timothy in the Bible.
The process of being designated as a member of the Protestant clergy, as well as that of being assigned to a particular office, varies with the denomination or faith group. Some Protestant denominations, such as Methodism, Presbyterianism, and Lutheranism, are hierarchical in nature; and ordination and assignment to individual pastorates or other ministries are made by the parent denominations. In other traditions, such as the Baptist and other Congregational groups, local churches are free to hire (and often ordain) their own clergy, although the parent denominations typically maintain lists of suitable candidates seeking appointment to local church ministries and encourage local churches to consider these individuals when filling available positions.
Some Protestant denominations require that candidates for ordination be "licensed" to the ministry for a period of time (typically one to three years) prior to being ordained. This period typically is spent performing the duties of ministry under the guidance, supervision, and evaluation of a more senior, ordained minister. In some denominations, however, licensure is a permanent, rather than a transitional state for ministers assigned to certain specialized ministries, such as music ministry or youth ministry.
All Protestant denominations reject the idea (following Luther) that the clergy are a separate category of people, but rather stress the priesthood of all believers. Based on this theological approach, Protestants do not have a sacrament of Ordination like the pre-Reformation Churches. Protestant ordination, therefore, can be viewed more as a public statement by the ordaining body that an individual possesses the theological knowledge, moral fitness, and practical skills required for service in that faith group's ministry.
Some Protestant denominations dislike the word clergy and do not use it of their own leaders. Often they refer to their leaders as pastors or ministers, titles that, if used, sometimes apply to the person only as long as he or she holds a particular office.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the term "clergy" does not apply. The Latter-day Saints do not use this term within their Church. The term "clergy", according to the Latter-day Saints, was never used in the early Christian Church of Jesus Christ and his apostles. The Latter-day Saints refer to the "priesthood", specifically the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods. The term "clergy" is inappropriate to use for any of the membership positions or callings within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The positions within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are volunteer, where the person holds a regular job within the world and devotes his/her time, for free, to the duties assigned to him/her within the church called "callings". Callings as missionary work are also volunteer, but can temporarily require full-time service. A full-time missionary is usually sent by the Church, usually for a 2 year period, to another part of the world to perform the assigned missionary duties. Such missionaries giving this full-time service live off their personal savings. Missionaries are usually young, from the age of 19 years, but some missionary duties require a retired person or couple.
Traditional functions such as leading meetings, giving sermons, teaching classes, and ministering in the home and at hospitals are done by ordinary church members appointed, or called, to those responsibilities. These roles are generally open to all regardless of theological training or sex. Boys and girls usually begin giving short sermons to the entire congregation and may assume certain leadership roles starting at age 12, but in most cases do not start regular teaching assignments or taking primary responsibility for other tasks until age 18.
The Church does not require formal training in theology. In practice, however, most Latter-day Saint men and women have significant theological training. Every member of the church is encouraged, but not forced to:
Performance of certain ordinances (rituals) and many leadership roles are restricted to the priesthood. Priesthood offices are deacon, teacher, priest, bishop, elder, high priest, seventy, apostle, and patriarch.
Admission to the Latter-day Saint priesthood requires no training; to be a member of the Latter-day Saint priesthood, one must be male, be at least 12 years old, and be morally worthy, as determined in a confidential interview with a local ecclesiastical leader, that being the Bishop. Anyone who meets these requirements are ordained to the priesthood as a matter of course. Whether for a young man or a new adult male (convert) member, the first priesthood assignment is in the Aaronic Priesthood. See Priesthood (Latter-day Saint). Over time, if found worthy, the member rises to elder which is the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Leadership in the church is organized in several levels:
Some of the key leadership positions at each level are:
| W | Elders Quorum president | Presides over all Elders |
| W,S,G | Primary president ‡ | Presides over leaders and teachers in the children’s organization |
| W,S,G | Relief Society president ‡ | Presides over leaders and teachers in the women’s organization |
| W,S,G | Young Men president | Presides over leaders and teachers in the youth organization |
| W,S,G | Young Women president ‡ | Presides over leaders and teachers in the youth organization |
| W,S | Activities chairperson ‡ | Chairs activity committee |
| W,S,G | Music chairperson ‡ | Chairs music committee, runs music program |
| W | Bishop | Presides over a congregation, administers in physical and spiritual matters |
| S | Stake president | Presides over the entire stake |
| S | Stake high council | Twelve men assigned to speak and perform administrative functions within a stake |
| A,G | Seventy | Travels around the area/world teaching the Gospel |
| G | Apostle | Member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, special witness for Christ |
| G | First Presidency of the church | Leads the church as directed by revelation from God. |
Positions marked with ‡ do not require the priesthood and are traditionally filled by women at all levels. Other leadership positions require priesthood ordination, for example a Stake President must be ordained a High Priest. Most church leaders select two “counselors” who are called to assist them in their duties and to take charge when they are at work or otherwise unable to preside.
Common ordinances (rituals) which require the priesthood are: Passing the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper (Deacon), blessing the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper (Priest), Baptizing (Priest), and giving priesthood blessings (Elder). All are eligible to receive these ordinances on condition of worthiness.
In ancient Judaism there was a formal priestly tribe known as the Kohanim; each member of the tribe, a Kohen had priestly duties, many of which centered around the Temple in Jerusalem. Since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, their role has been significantly reduced. Today, Kohanim know their status only by family tradition, and they still offer the priestly blessing during certain services in the synagogue and perform the Pidyon Ha-ben (redemption of the first-born son) ceremony. Otherwise, they exercise no particular leadership role.
Since the time of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the religious leaders and clergy of Judaism have been the rabbis, who are technically scholars in Jewish law empowered to act as judges in a rabbinical court. The leadership of a Jewish congregation is, in fact, in the hands of the laity: the president of a synagogue is its actual leader and any adult Jew (or at least any male in Orthodox congregations) can lead prayer services. Rabbis are not intermediaries between God and man: the word "rabbi" means "teacher", and the rabbi functions as advisor to the congregation and counselor. The rabbi is not an occupation found in the Torah (Five books of Moses); the first time this word is mentioned is in the Mishnah. The modern form of the rabbi developed in the Talmudic era. Rabbis are given authority to make interpretations of Jewish law and custom. Traditionally, a man obtains one of three levels of Semicha (rabbinic ordination) after the completion of an arduous learning program in Torah, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Mishnah and Talmud, Midrash, Jewish ethics and lore, the codes of Jewish law and responsa, theology and philosophy.
Since the early medieval era an additional form of clergy, the Hazzan (cantor) has existed as well. Cantors have sometimes been the only "clergy" of a synagogue, empowered to undertake religio-civil functions like witnessing marriages. Cantors do provide leadership of actual services, primarily because of their training and expertise in the music and prayer rituals pertaining to them, rather than because of any spiritual or "sacramental" distinction between them and the laity. Cantors as much as rabbis have been recognized by civil authorities in the United States as clergy.
Additionally, Jewish authorities license mohels, men specially trained by experts in Jewish law and usually also by medical professionals to perform the ritual of circumcision. In many places, mohels are also licensed by civil authorities, as circumcision is technically a surgical procedure. Kohanim, who must avoid contact with blood for ritual purity, cannot act as mohels, but most mohels are also either rabbis or cantors.
Orthodox Judaism maintains all of these traditional, fundamental requirements. Women are forbidden from becoming rabbis or cantors in the Orthodox world. One does not need a bachelor's degree to enter most Orthodox rabbinical seminaries or Yeshiva's. The training in Jewish Law can be rigorous and extensive depending on the Teacher/School quality which varies widely, but academic critical thinking is disavowed. Some Orthodox Yeshiva's forbid secular education. However, there are schools (yeshivas) that call themselves "modern" that function as colleges or universities and which do offer formal, accredited degrees, including master's degrees in Music, in Religious Education, in Hebrew Letters and similar studies for cantors and rabbis.
Conservative Judaism maintains all of these traditional requirements. Yet, Women are allowed to become rabbis and cantors in the Conservative movement, and, as of late, homosexuals if they are celibate. Conservative Judaism differs with Orthodoxy in that it believes in Halakha Jewish Law as evolving with History and binding. However, the academic requirements are rigorous, as Conservative Judaism adds the following subjects as requirements for rabbinic ordination: one must first earn a bachelor's degree before entering the rabbinate. In addition studies are mandated in pastoral care and psychology, the historical development of Judaism and most importantly academic biblical and Talmudic criticism.
Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism do not maintain the traditional requirements for study as rooted in Jewish Law and traditionalist text. Both men and women may be rabbis or cantors. The level of Jewish law, Talmud and responsa studied in five years of these denominations is similar to that learned in the first year of the more traditional Jewish seminaries. The rabbinical seminaries of these movements hold that one must first earn a bachelor's degree before entering the rabbinate. In addition studies are mandated in pastoral care and psychology, the historical development of Judaism; and academic biblical criticism. Emphasis is placed not on Jewish law, but rather on sociology, modern Jewish philosophy, Theology and Pastoral Care.
The Buddhist clergy is often referred to as the Sangha, and consists of the order of monks and nuns founded by Gautama Buddha during the 5th century BCE. According to scriptural records, these monks and nuns lived an austere life of meditation, living as wandering beggars for nine months out of the year. In modern times, however, the role of Buddhist clergy can vary greatly across different countries. For instance, in Korea, Japan, and one of the four Tibetan schools, Buddhist monks may marry, which is forbidden under the traditional Buddhist monastic codes. On the other hand, countries practicing Theravada Buddhism, such as Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka, tend to take a much more conservative view of monastic life, and continue to observe precepts that forbid monks from touching women or working in certain secular roles.
While female monastic (bhikkhuni) lineages existed in most Buddhist countries at one time, the Theravada lineages of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka died out during the 14th-15th Century CE. The status and future of female Buddhist clergy in these countries continues to be a subject of debate. In countries without a formal female monastic lineage, women may take other religious roles, but they are generally not granted the same rights and privileges as recognized male monastics.
The diversity of Buddhist traditions makes it difficult to generalize about Buddhist clergy. In the United States, Pure Land priests of the Japanese diaspora serve a role very similar to Protestant ministers of the Christian tradition. Meanwhile, reclusive Theravada forest monks in Thailand live a life devoted to meditation and the practice of austerities in small communities in rural Thailand- a very different life from even their city-dwelling counterparts, who may be involved primarily in teaching, the study of scripture, and the administration of the nationally organized (and government sponsored) Sangha. In the Zen tradition, manual labor is an important part of religious discipline; meanwhile, in the Theravada tradition, prohibitions against monks working as laborers and farmers continue to be generally observed.
Sunni Islam is non-clerical. The term "imam" is generically used to refer to various forms of religious leadership, ranging from the leader of a small group prayer to a scholar of religion, none of which involve any sort of religious ordination. In Shia Islam, the term "imam" has more specific meanings. The word literally means "in front of" in Arabic and harkens to the Imam's role of leading prayer by standing in front of the congregation. The Ulema are the class of Muslim scholars primarily devoted to the study of and, in some governments, the implementation of the Shari'a, or Islamic Law.
The subject of clergy within the various Pagan religions remains very controversial to many Pagans. The very nature of Paganism means that each individual is his or her own priest or priestess, and there is no need for any earthly leaders within the religions, however many do choose to organize themselves into small groups which are usually led by either a priest or priestess, or both. In Wicca a coven is usually led by a High Priest and a High Priestess who will be senior members of the coven with many years of experience.
The lack of any central Pagan religious body has meant that in general Pagan clergy are appointed by the group they lead and have no power or authority outside of that group. A few organizations are now taking a stand however to try and bring Pagan clergy in line with the clergy of other religions so that Pagans can enjoy many of the services that other religions have enjoyed for many years, such as hospital and prison visits, marriage celebrants, etc. In the USA some Pagan leaders choose to be ordained by one of the multi-faith organizations such as the Universal Life Church especially as marriage laws in parts of the USA allow for these leaders to conduct legal marriages once they hold such an ordination, however some controversy still surrounds these ordinations in some places, and outside of the USA marriage laws differ and this may not be sufficient to allow the leader to conduct marriages in some countries (in Australia the actual organization has to be endorsed in order for a leader to be registered as a celebrant).
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - gejstlighed
Nederlands (Dutch)
geestelijkheid, geestelijken
Deutsch (German)
n. - Geistlichkeit, Klerus
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ.) κλήρος, ιερατείο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - clero (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - clero, clerecía
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - prästerskap
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
圣职者, 僧侣, 牧师
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 聖職者, 僧侶, 牧師
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الكهنه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - כמרים, כמורה
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