Priest lifted dead part of flower (5)
I believe the answer is:
petal
'part of flower' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'priest lifted dead' is the wordplay.
'priest' becomes 'p' (ecclesiastical abbreviation).
'lifted' says the letters should be written backwards (going up in down clue).
'dead' becomes 'late' ('late' can be similar in meaning to 'dead').
'late' written backwards gives 'etal'.
'p'+'etal'='PETAL'
(Other definitions for petal that I've seen before include "Small seal set in a ring" , "Floral segment" , "Leaf-like part of flower head" , "Floral feature" , "part of seven [VIOLA]" .)