simoniacal
- adjective
- /ˌsɪməˈnaɪəkl/
- Formal
- The scandal involved simoniacal transactions, leading to the resignation of several high-ranking clergy.
Examples
-
Faithful to the precepts of the 1074 and 1075 Lenten synods, they had shunned all contact with simoniacal and married clerics.
Academic text (2018) -
According to Andreas, some came to make a pilgrimage, some to learn the new way of monastic life, some to flee simoniacal superiors, and others, having heard that John and his monks publicly denounced simony, to be instructed about how to avoid it.
Academic text (2005) -
So Bonaventure used the Ebionites in order to critique the simoniacal clergy who understood their ecclesial rights as their possession instead of seeing them in terms of service.
Academic text (2002) -
# 19 Adela's visit ad limina might have been induced by the letter sent to her by Gregory VII on November 10, 1076, urging her to act against simoniacal and married clerics in the county of Flanders.
Academic text (2018) -
The church took measures to prevent simoniacal practices among its officials.
-
He was excommunicated for his simoniacal dealings that undermined the integrity of the church.
Synonyms
Relating to buying or selling church jobs and holy things
Relating to buying or selling church positions for money
Antonyms
How Corrupt
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Simoniacal comes from a Bible story about a man named Simon who tried to 'buy' spiritual power, and from the practice called simony named after him. So simoniacal describes the buying or selling of church offices or sacred things.