Joseph Clifford Fenton

The 21st century has seen something of a revival of interest in Fenton's books. In 2006, The Catholic Church and Salvation, a scholarly in-depth explanation of the Catholic dogma "No Salvation Outside the Church", was republished by the Society of St. Pius V's Seminary Press in Round Top, New York. In 2016, We Stand with Christ was republished by Emmaus Road Publishing under the title Laying the Foundation: A Handbook of Catholic Apologetics and Fundamental Theology. Also in 2016, Christian D. Washburn (Associate Professor of Dogmatic Theology, at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, in St. Paul, MN) edited a collection of Fenton's essays from American Ecclesiastical Review under the title The Church of Christ: A Collection of Essays by Monsignor Joseph C. Fenton, published by Cluny Media, which has overseen the bulk of the revival in Fenton's works, releasing new editions of The Theology of Prayer and The Concept of Diocesan Priesthood, under the title The Diocesan Priest in the Church of Christ, and including Fenton's dissertation, "The Concept of Sacred Theology", in its Thomist Tradition Series, under the title What Is Sacred Theology?.

Fenton died in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, on July 7, 1969.

In December 1963, Fenton resigned as editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review "because of poor health" and became pastor of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. "He spent the remaining years of his life attacking from the pulpit the liberal reforms within the American church", according to one biographical source. Fenton died of an acute heart attack, apparently in his sleep, on July 7, 1969. He is buried at St. Thomas Cemetery in Palmer, Massachusettss.

During his career, Fenton received many ecclesiastical honors from Rome. The Holy See named him a papal chamberlain (1951), a domestic prelate (1954) and a protonotary apostolic (1963). A recipient of the papal medal, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (1954), he belonged to the Pontifical Roman Theological Academy and was a counselor to the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities (1950–67).

At the formation of the Catholic Theological Society of America in 1946, the then-Father Fenton was one of its first officers in the position of secretary.

He obtained a doctorate in sacred theology (S.T.D.) from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome in 1931 under the direction of Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P..

Fenton was a curate at Immaculate Conception Church in Easthampton, Massachusetts, from 1931 to 1933 and at St. Joseph's Church, Leicester, Massachusetts, from 1933 to 1934. He taught philosophy at Saint Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, from 1934 to 1935).

He studied for the priesthood at the Grand Seminary in Montreal, Canada, until 1930 and received an S.T.L. and J.C.B. from the University of Montreal.

On June 14, 1930, Bishop Thomas Michael O'Leary ordained Fenton at St. Michael's Cathedral in Springfield.

Fenton received a B.A. degree from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1926.

Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton (January 16, 1906 - July 7, 1969), a priest of the diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, was professor of fundamental dogmatic theology at the Catholic University of America and editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review (1943–1963). He is considered a significant American Catholic theologian of the 20th century, serving as a peritus for Cardinal Ottaviani at the Second Vatican Council. He was also secretary of the Catholic Theological Society of America.

Fenton was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 16, 1906. He was the eldet son of Michael Francis and Elizabeth (Clifford) Fenton.