Hit with shield without "martial weapons proficiency"

[emacleric]

Hello everybody!
Can a chatacter withouth "martial weapons proficiency" (for example a cleric) hit with a shield in melee (withouth penality)?
Thank you

[Ciaran Barnes]

The character may make attacks with the shield, but must take the -4 penalty for non-proficiency.

[RedDogMT]

When using a shield to shield bash, it is considered a martial weapon...so the cleric does take a -4 non-proficiency penalty.

Having the Shield Proficiency feat only means that you do not take the shield's armor check penalty on attack rolls when using it.

[Imbicatus]

If you want to attack with a shield, you would need to either dip into a class that has all martial weapons, spend a feat on Martial weapon prof: Shield, or take a -4 to hit. Unless you can find a deity who's favored weapon is a shield bash, that is.

Afterthought: A GM MAY let you take the Heirloom Weapon trait for use with a shield, letting you bash with it proficiently.