Crime stealing pence from clergyman (5)
I believe the answer is:
arson
'crime' is the definition.
(crime of illegally starting a fire)
'pence from clergyman' is the wordplay.
'pence' becomes 'p'.
'from' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'clergyman' becomes 'parson' (parson is a kind of clergyman).
'parson' with 'p' taken away is 'ARSON'.
'stealing' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for arson that I've seen before include "major crime" , "Criminal activity" , "Crime of fire-setting (5)" , "Iniquitous behaviour" , "Incendiary crime" .)