Lately Pope needs time off to convert flock? (9)
I believe the answer is:
laypeople
'time off to convert flock?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'lately pope' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'pope' is 'peop' which is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'needs' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for laypeople that I've seen is " They've not followed orders".)