Even Greater Things: Hope and Challenge After Vatican II

James Noonan, an adjunct professor of English at Carleton University, is
the author of Biography and Autobiography: Essays on Irish and Canadian
History and Literature.

The scope of this book is ambitious. It is a summary of the work and
documents of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church
(1962–65), as well as an examination of the issues raised by the
Council (ministry and worship, science and religion, marriage and
sexuality, church structure and ecumenism, and the centrality of the
Holy Spirit in the life of the church) and how they are being confronted
today. The authors’ hope that Vatican II is the dawn of an era of
great relevance for the church is tempered by their observation that
“Christianity is now closer to the beginning than at the end of its
mission in history.”

The authors are well qualified to address the book’s weighty issues.
Bernard Daly is a Catholic journalist who covered Vatican II for the
information service of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and
served as its assistant general secretary from 1984 to 1991. Mae Daly,
his wife of 51 years, has a degree in counseling and taught religion,
family life, and music literacy in Grenada. Bishop de Roo, bishop of
Victoria from 1962 to 1999, was an active participant in the Council.

The book is organized as a series of letters between the authors and
designed as an adult educational tool, with chapter summaries, questions
for discussion, directions for action, suggestions for further reading,
a glossary, notes, and a bibliography for each chapter (though no
index). Even Greater Things will be of particular interest to Catholics
and others who want to re-examine the significance of Vatican II and the
promise it still holds for the future.