Crossword Genius

Hardened sinner's opening religious books penned by priest (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sclerotic

'hardened' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'sinner's opening religious books penned by priest' is the wordplay.
'opening' says to take the initial letters.
'religious books' becomes 'OT' (Old Testament).
'penned by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are penned in).
'priest' becomes 'cleric' (both can mean a clergyman).
The initial letter of 'sinners' is 's'.
'ot' inserted into 'cleric' is 'clerotic'.
's'+'clerotic'='SCLEROTIC'

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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