Reluctant to follow Catholic clergy (5)
I believe the answer is:
cloth
'clergy' is the definition.
(I have seen 'The clergy ' mean 'cloth' so perhaps 'clergy' could also mean 'cloth')
'reluctant to follow catholic' is the wordplay.
'reluctant' becomes 'loth' (if you are loth to do something you are reluctant).
'to follow' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go after or follow others).
'catholic' becomes 'C' (abbreviation as in RC for Roman Catholic).
'loth' after 'c' is 'CLOTH'.
(Other definitions for cloth that I've seen before include "Fabric, textile" , "Textiles" , "Gingham, say" , "Woven material" , "rag" .)