Friend is firm with Frenchman and cleric (8)
I believe the answer is:
compadre
'friend' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'firm with frenchman and cleric' is the wordplay.
'firm' becomes 'co' (abbreviation for company).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'frenchman' becomes 'M' (abbreviation for Monsieur - like 'Mr').
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'cleric' becomes 'padre' (I've seen this before).
'co'+'m'+'padre'='COMPADRE'
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for compadre that I've seen before include "Friend (from Spanish)" , "American friend" , "Friend, companion" .)