Joseph Clifford Fenton

Joseph Clifford Fenton (January 16, 1906 - July 7, 1969) was a Catholic priest who promoted conservative theology.

He was a professor of fundamental dogmatic theology at the Catholic University of America and editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review (1943–1963).

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).

He vigorously attacked the ideas of religious liberty promoted by Jesuit theologian John Courtney Murray.

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?.

As a controversialist, he is best remembered for his aggressive opposition to John Courtney Murray, S.J., on religious freedom and on the relationship between church and State.

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.