Religious office in hot periods abandoned (10)
I believe the answer is:
priesthood
'religious office' is the definition.
'hot periods abandoned' is the wordplay.
'abandoned' indicates anagramming the letters.
'hot'+'periods'='hotperiods'
'hotperiods' anagrammed gives 'PRIESTHOOD'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for priesthood that I've seen before include "cleric's office" , "Minister's office" , "Ordained order" , "office in church" , "future for seminarian" .)