About Flashes

Modern society is global and ‘always on’. Time is precious.

Recognising this, Flashes of Insight is short-form, theologically grounded analysis and commentary. Pastoral theology.

Events, challenges and questions inside the Church, and broader society are its seedbed.

Its mission is to engage with people around the English-speaking world, offering challenging and hope-filled commentary and analysis on local events with global implications.

Flashes’ target is literate English-speaking people who are moving forward in their thinking and faith and who want to see the Church grow, respond, and evolve.

These people know the importance of conversation, comment and analysis in a post-Vatican II context and as the basis of pastoral theology.​

“By attributing a “personal” character to the absolute mystery, Christianity emphasises that our relationship with it is diaolgical: it is not merely an act of knowledge and understanding on our part, but an encounter in which God receives us. This mutual reception between God and humankind is not a one-off act; it is a story, a story that is unfolding…

“As St Augustine watched a boy playing with a shell on the seashore, he realised that all our theology, catechisms, and dogmatic textbooks are but a small shell compared to the fullness of the mystery of God.” – Tomáš Halík – The Afternoon of Christianity.

By embracing the mantra ‘Local action—Global thinking,’ Flashes ensures its insights are locally grounded and address broader Catholic, church and global societal contexts, offering perspectives that resonate across a wide range of communities.

Flashes of insight can be expressed in a range of media styles: Comment and analysis, images, video, book reviews, and reflections.