Priests are not clerics and clerics are not priests.
A priest is called to a simple life of temple service, carrying out their gods’ will through prayer and sacrifice, not by magic and strength of arms. In some cities, priesthood amounts to a political office, viewed as a stepping stone to higher positions of authority and involving no communion with a god at all.
Most priests are able to cast some for of divine spells, but these spells are granted to them by the pantheon they serve not a individual god.
A cleric on the other hand has a deep and personal relationship with a good. Becoming a cleric do not require training or the favor of an organisation. It requires dedication to a god and that that god want you to serve. While a priest can cast spells the cleric is granted a host of additional powers that aids them in the quests that there gods have chosen for them.
It is not uncommon for clerics to retire in there old age to become priests. when they do they have a tendency to rise quikely to the middle tier of position but seldom higher as they often lack the political connections.
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