An ecclesiastical crime is a crime (delictum) related to the clergy where the crime is against canon law vis-à-vis civil law.
The crime of simony is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church. The crimes of schism[1] and heresy are also ecclesiastical crimes.
- ^ [1] Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine The deep wound of schism in the archdiocese, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke - schism in context of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (Saint Louis)