The Church needs to reconnect with the art of telling stories, something people crave to make sense of the world around them, according to a communications expert.

"Jesus himself was a great story-teller and the media today is a big storytelling machine. People need stories; they're a human need that helps them shape their lives... But nowadays most people don't look to the Church for these stories but seek this in television," explained Jim McDonnell.

He was speaking at a lecture on Communicating In A Secular Society, organised by the Pastoral Formation Institute, where he outlined ways in which the Church could improve its communication skills.

Dr McDonnell, from the UK, explained that his reflections were based on 30 years of working in Church communications and not based specifically on the scene in Malta.

Most people out there, he said, perceived religion to be a boring subject filled with irrelevant information. But people were interested when they heard talk of ethics and spirituality, without realising these too were part of religion.

"They've got it into their head that religion is boring," he said, highlighting the importance for the Church to ensure its message was reframed to make it relevant to today's audience.

He pointed out that, nowadays, people were constantly bombarded with information and messages sent out by different media in this pluralistic society.

The Church had to ask itself how it could interact and convey its meaning and message in this society. It had to understand the way the media worked, learn the media's language and develop a relationship with journalists.

"To take the simplest example: Many Church press releases, unfortunately, show quite clearly that the person writing has no understanding of what will grab the attention of a journalist," Dr McDonnell said.

He concluded saying that the key to achieving better communication was a change in mindset and embracing and understanding the media.

"I get the impression some people in the Church don't like the media very much... It's because we undervalue the good things in the media... sometimes it's as though Church people think journalists are from planet Zog... and are out to be nasty to the Church," he said, adding this was not the case.

Dr McDonnell said people liked interaction, dialogue and feedback, so the Church had to open itself up even if this meant accepting scepticism and criticism.

Journalists Miriam Dalli and Nathaniel Attard shared their views on the subject. Both agreed the Church in Malta had to find ways of being closer to the realities faced by the people.

They also agreed the Church had to make its voice heard on "uncomfortable" issues that were being discussed by society, such as divorce.