Crossword Genius

Religious statement of belief, without repetition, follows it (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sacred

'religious' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'repetition follows it' is the wordplay.
'repetition' becomes 'cred' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'follows' says to put letters next to each other.
'it' becomes 'sa' (old-fashioned abbreviation for sex appeal).
'cred' after 'sa' is 'SACRED'.

'statement of belief without' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

(Other definitions for sacred that I've seen before include "Like gravestones maybe" , "Sanctified" , "Hallowed, consecrated" , "'Consecrated, holy (6)'" , "Holy, blessed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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