Father's to assess clerical office (9)

I believe the answer is:

pastorate

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'clerical office' is the definition.
'pastorate' can be an answer for 'office' (pastorate is a kind of office). I'm not sure about the 'clerical' bit.

'father's to assess' is the wordplay.
'father's' becomes 'pa's' (pa can mean dad or father).
'assess' becomes 'rate' (rating is a kind of assessing).
'pas'+'to'+'rate'='PASTORATE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pastorate that I've seen before include "group in ministry" , "Clergy generally" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.