ecclesiastical court

American  

noun

1. a church court in ecclesiastical matters, presided over by members of the clergy and usually having no compulsory jurisdiction.

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Etymology

Origin of ecclesiastical court

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

An ecclesiastical court is to decide whether Cambridge University can move a memorial to a 17th Century benefactor who invested in the slave trade.

From BBC • Jan. 24, 2022

Wendt was tried by an ecclesiastical court for disobeying the bishop’s orders.

From Washington Post • Sep. 5, 2019

Church spies hauled everyday people into ecclesiastical court for infractions such as eating meat during Lent, and priest-judges passed sentence.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 16, 2018

This does not mean that he did not act alone; it does mean that he did not come to such sources as 16th-century ecclesiastical court records by himself.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2018

The ground for this action was, that in the ecclesiastical court demand had been made by the said Don Pedro for the surrender of the bequest26 to the said Archdeacon Cordero.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of The Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, Volume XXXIX: 1683-1690 by Blair, Emma Helen