| SHRIVING | Act of a priest hearing a confession and prescribing penance, or granting absolution |
| APPEAR | Was a parish priest hearing about having to turn up? (6) |
| MORTIFICATION | Subjection of the passions by penance or abstinence (13) |
| PRIEST | One hearing a confession |
| PENANCE | Catholic sacrament of confession and forgiveness |
| EXCUSING | Letting off or granting an exemption (8) |
| HIPPO | Augustine of -; one of the Latin Fathers of the Church; a Christian thinker whose major works include Confessions and The City of God (5) |
| OPTOMETRY | The science or practice of testing visual acuity and prescribing corrective lenses (9) |
| SCENE | Subdivision of an act of a play; or, a sequence of action in a film made up of a series of shots (5) |
| INTERVAL | Break between acts of a play or parts of a film or concert; or, half-time in a sports match (8) |
| RABBI | Companion of a priest and a minister in many a joke |
| BREACH | An infringement; a quarrel; a gap made in an enemy's fortifications by an attacking army; or, the act of a whale leaping clear of the water (6) |
| INTERLUDE | An entr'acte or intermezzo between the acts of a play and a light dramatic or comic piece during such a pause (9) |
| APATHY | Disinterest of a priest at start and end of homily (6) |
| RINSE | An act of a quick wash or swill; mouthwash; or, a preparation for temporarily tinting the hair (5) |
| NEHEMIAH | A book of the Old Testament recounting the acts of a Jewish official at the court of Artaxerxes, King of Persia (8) |
| ABDICATION | The formal act of a king or queen giving up his or her crown (10) |
| PRO | and 3ac, Professor or master prescribing a set procedure (3,5) |
| FORMA | and 3ac, Professor or master prescribing a set procedure (3,5) |
| PADRE | Title of a priest in Italian and Spanish countries (5) |
