The voice of the bishop in seventeenth-century France Direct and indirect preaching

The episcopal mission, the importance of which was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent, was debated in depth throughout the seventeenth century. Is episcopacy a different sacrament to priesthood? Or is it simply a kind of extension of it? The contributions collected in this special issue highlight that while Tridentine bishops are willingly presented as the depositaries of a specific “voice” within the ecclesiastical institution, their voice is also called on to inform (in all senses of the word) other voices, which both perpetuate and weaken it.