Every institution today faces the challenge of being heard in a fast-changing world. For the Spanish Church, that challenge runs deeper than words.

It is not about the language it uses, but about its ability to make itself understood by a society that has radically changed its cultural codes, information habits and way of relating to others.

The Church itself seems to have understood this.

At the meeting held in 2025 by the Episcopal Commissions for Communications of Spain and Portugal (an Iberian bishops’ gathering held in Funchal, Madeira), it was acknowledged that ecclesial language must be clear to public opinion, close to everyday life and capable of responding to the questions of people today.

It was also stated that communication cannot be merely institutional, but must be relational.

This is an important acknowledgment. Because perhaps one of the problems with Church communications is that it speaks too much from within to those within.

An insider vocabulary

Words such as synodality, discernment, pastoral ministry, evangelization, communion and mission have a precise meaning for those who are part of the Church.

But what do they mean to a 20-year-old who has never set foot in a parish?

Translating the message without distorting it

Here we encounter one of the great challenges.

The Church does not need to abandon its own language or simplify its message. It needs to translate it without distorting it.

And that requires more than good press releases. It requires knowing the intended audience.

Listening to them. Knowing what concerns them.

Knowing where they look for information. And understanding how they consume content.

Especially young people.

The Spanish Bishops’ Conference itself recognizes that social media constitute a fundamental space for young people and that the Church must develop its presence, content and witnesses there, especially by listening to them.

But being on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok does not necessarily mean communicating with young people.

A Church that simply transfers its institutional communications to social media may be using a new channel with an old language.

Social media require conversation, responsiveness, authenticity, images, video, storytelling and people capable of generating trust.

The power of stories

And here there is another fundamental change.

For a long time, the Church communicated primarily through documents, homilies, statements, declarations and its own media.

But contemporary communication is increasingly built around people and stories.

A priest who accompanies a homeless person. A religious sister who works with immigrants.

A young person who explains why they have decided to get involved. A teacher who talks about what it means to educate at a Catholic school.

A missionary who recounts their experience. A family that finds support in a parish.

These stories can explain what the Church is much better than 10 press releases.

And there is something else. Church communications should not be limited to speaking when it has something to announce.

It should also learn to listen when it has nothing to say.

Because listening is communication. And it is probably one of the most effective ways to rebuild trust.

The Spanish Church is taking steps in this direction.

It has professional communications structures, specialized training, a digital presence and recognizes the need for attractive content, familiar language and contemporary formats.

But precisely for that reason, I believe the debate needs to go a little further.

Speaking with society, not to it

The question is no longer whether the Church has communicators.

The question is whether the entire Church understands that communicating is part of its mission.

And whether it is willing to accept something that every communications professional knows well: the sender does not decide what has been communicated; the receiver decides when interpreting what they have received.

Perhaps the great challenge for the Spanish Church is not to speak more. Not even to speak better.

It is to learn to speak with society and not merely speak to society.

• Antonio Silva is a journalist. He was the director of communications for the 45th International Eucharistic Congress that took place in Seville, Spain in 1993.

• Original in Spanish. First appeared in English in Global Catholic.