Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (2)
1.
a derogatory reference to priests who use their influence to control secular or political affairs;
2.
the skills involved in the work of a priest;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Priestcraft \Priest"craft`\, n.
Priestly policy; the policy of a priesthood; esp., in an ill
sense, fraud or imposition in religious concerns; management
by priests to gain wealth and power by working upon the
religious motives or credulity of others.
[1913 Webster]
It is better that men should be governed by priestcraft
than by violence. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
priestcraft
n 1: a derogatory reference to priests who use their influence
to control secular or political affairs
2: the skills involved in the work of a priest