Parish priests uncovered crime (5)
I believe the answer is:
arson
'crime' is the definition.
(crime of illegally starting a fire)
'parish priests uncovered' is the wordplay.
'parish priests' becomes 'parsons'.
'uncovered' indicates the central letters.
The centre of 'parsons' is 'ARSON'.
(Other definitions for arson that I've seen before include "Malicious fire-raising" , "A burning crime" , "Act of a pyromaniac" , "The act of firing" , "Criminal burning of property" .)