The Church in Scotland must put more time and money into its engagement with the media, the Archbishop of Glasgow has said.Archbishop Philip Tartaglia said recent months had seen the media carrying the "best and the worst" of news for Catholics in Scotland.
These include the resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh following allegations of sexual misconduct, and the election of Pope Francis.
"Recent events have shown how stretched our resources are, and how dependent we are on the energy and expertise of a tiny number of media professionals whose work for the Church has been more necessary than ever. If we are to engage properly in public life we need to better resource our means of communicating the Church's message," the archbishop wrote in a pastoral letter for World Communications Day.
The Scottish Catholic Media Office has three members of staff, one of whom is an administrator.
The archbishop praised social media, explaining that Facebook and Twitter can help dioceses engage with people "far from the Church door".
He added: "Avail yourselves of the new aids to living the Catholic life of prayer, charity and solidarity offered by the new media - websites, social media streams and Catholic television, not forgetting the special role and importance of the traditional Catholic paper."