Devout, taking hollow article to be pathetic (7)
I believe the answer is:
piteous
'be pathetic' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'devout taking hollow article' is the wordplay.
'devout' becomes 'pious' (devoutly religious).
'taking' indicates putting letters inside.
'hollow' suggests removing the centre.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'the' with its middle removed is 'te'.
'pious' going around 'te' is 'PITEOUS'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for piteous that I've seen before include "Arousing sorrow and compassion" , "Woeful" , "Deserving compassion" , "Deserving sympathy" , "Heart-rending" .)