Cryptic crossword clue
Fanciful seraph outside church, one found in Greek diocese 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word EPARCHIES

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
E
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "found in Greek diocese" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case found in greek diocese = eparchies.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does EPARCHIES mean?

EPARCHIES noun
  1. One of the districts of the Roman Empire at the third echelon
  2. One of the administrative sub-provincial units of post-Ottoman independent Greece
  3. In pre-schism Christian Church, name for a province under the supervision of the metropolitan
  4. In Eastern Christendom, diocese of a bishop

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