Relations between the Church and the means of social communication in Spain “need to be improved”, and “the basic situation” that characterises communication between the Church and society is especially due to “Spain’s particular history”. These are among the main conclusions of the report on “Means of communication and religion in Spain. A survey on the state of media communication between Church and society”, presented at a news conference in Madrid on 14 November by the Santa Maria Foundation, founded by the Company of Mary in 1977. The book, compiled on the basis of 53 interviews, is intended to ascertain “the public presence of religions in our society”, especially that of the Catholic Church, in terms of their influence in Spanish culture. As the editors of the report, Fernando Vidal and the theologian Luis Gonzàles-Carvajal, point out, “a comparison with the media pastoral service of the Vatican, considered as a positive model, leads us to think that the situation of inadequacy is due in large part to Spain’s particular history. But it also opens up possibilities of improvement”.
