Had been lying to a chap - the padre! (4)
I believe the answer is:
lain
'had' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'been lying to a chap the padre' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'chap' could be 'lin' and 'lin' is found within the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lain that I've seen before include "Having been put flat (on the ground)" , "Set down horizontally" , "Past participle of lay" , "Rested; nail (anag)" , "(Had) remained" .)