Both Uses of
clergy
in
The Idiot
- It is a terrible idea, but it is historic, it is statistic; it is indeed one of those facts which enables an intelligent historian to reconstruct the physiognomy of a special epoch, for it brings out this further point with mathematical accuracy, that the clergy were in those days sixty times richer and more flourishing than the rest of humanity and perhaps sixty times fatter also...†
Chpt 3.4
- This criminal ended at last by denouncing himself to the clergy, and giving himself up to justice.†
Chpt 3.4 *
Definition:
formal religious leaders (typically in Christianity)
Clergy is typically used in reference to Christian churches; however, clerics (members of the clergy) are referred to in different ways for different denominations. A Catholic priest is the equivalent of a Protestant minister. A pastor is any Christian cleric in charge of a congregation or parish. The clergy is distinguished from the laity.