In Catholicism, a clergyman is a man who is part of the priestly order.
Cleric is a concept that comes from the Latin clerĭcus , although its oldest origin takes us to the Greek language. The term is used to name the man who has received holy orders and who, therefore, belongs to the clergy (the priestly class).
For example: "When I am not in a good mood, I go to talk to the parish clergyman to restrain me" , "The clergyman was concerned about the spread of drugs among the youth of the neighborhood" , "A young Ecuadorian clergyman who traveled to Africa to mission was recognized by the UN .
Clergymen in Catholicism
It should be noted that the notion acquires different meanings depending on the religion . For the Catholic Church , a cleric is a person who joins the priestly order and is governed by a statute that is part of canon law. A man becomes a clergyman when he receives the sacrament of holy orders in the degree of diaconate.
It is important to be clear that there are different types of clerics depending on the position in which they are within the order or the tasks they carry out. Specifically, these are some of the most significant:
• Mass cleric . This is also known as a priest and is responsible, among other things, for carrying out various religious services within what would be the temples.
• Crown cleric , which is one who has the first tonsure, that is, the first degree that exists within the religion.
• Senior cleric . This is a term that is used to refer to a religious person who has one or the three main major orders that exist and which are the priesthood, the diaconate and the subdiaconate.
• Minor cleric . As its name indicates, under this name are the religious who have one or more of the minor orders that exist. We can say that these are exorcist, ostiary, acolyte and reader.
In addition to all this, we cannot ignore that within the different groups of existing clerics, there is also the so-called chamber clergy . This is a term used to refer to someone who has the honor of having been appointed to occupy a position within what would be the Pope's Palace.
Islamic clerics are religious leaders.
The term in Islam
For Islam , a cleric is a religious leader . In countries where religion and the State are not separated or, at least, maintain a very close link, clerics are important authorities on a political and social level.
"An Iranian cleric called for the death penalty for an actress who wore a skirt on local television" y "The Israeli president responded with harsh words to the Arab cleric's statements about the situation in the Middle East" son expresiones que aluden a estos dirigentes.
Clergyman in the Middle Ages and in literature
In the Middle Ages , a clergyman was a literate and wise man , even if he did not have an order or was a pagan.
Likewise, we have to highlight the existence of a literary work of horror that uses the word in question in its title. We are referring to "The Wicked Cleric" , a story by the famous author HP Lovecraft .