{"id":2237,"date":"2014-10-23T21:54:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T03:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"\/?page_id=2237"},"modified":"2019-10-28T19:16:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T01:16:32","slug":"the-personal-diaries-of-msgr-joseph-clifford-fenton","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/free-content\/reference-links\/1-what-constitutes-the-papacy\/the-personal-diaries-of-msgr-joseph-clifford-fenton\/","title":{"rendered":"The Personal Diaries of Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Personal Diaries of\u00a0<\/strong>Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1906-1969)<\/strong><\/p>\n

(by gloria.michaels@yahoo.com<\/a>)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forward <\/strong><\/p>\n

(by T. Stanfill Benns)<\/p>\n

A friend forwarded this to me recently, and in compliance with the request of the compiler, I am sharing it with readers. It appears the material was taken from the Novus Ordo Watch site, but its inclusion here should in no way be interpreted as an endorsement of that site or any of its operators. As I have been a longtime admirer of Monsignor Fenton\u2019s and have quoted him at length in my own works, I have personally read all these journals, and towards the end of this document I have provided additional excerpts from them which I felt were appropriate. Fenton\u2019s insights concerning the close of the 1950s era of the Church and the early Vatican 2 era are invaluable. While his evaluation of Pope Pius XII may seem somewhat harsh, it was never lacking in respect. It must be remembered that Fenton did not have the information that only later became available in the wake of the Church\u2019s demise. He saw its beginning, but could never in his wildest dreams have envisioned the totality of its consequences.<\/p>\n

One thing brought out most clearly in these journals is the fact that even members of the hierarchy, well-schooled in theology, were constantly researching and updating their knowledge base, refashioning their writing direction as they learned and better understood the revealed truths defined by the Church. Monsignor Fenton was no exception to this rule, as he noticeably demonstrates below in his journals. If even highly trained theologians had to scramble to make sense of the devastation that was Vatican 2, then surely the laity, trying to puzzle out what really happened all these years, cannot be faulted if they made some detours along the way.<\/p>\n

The sense one leaves with, in finishing the journals Fenton left us, is that fading light that once was the magnificence of Rome. The good monsignor may have known that he had booked on the equivalent of the Titanic, but he could not have foreseen how few would survive the wreck of St. Peter\u2019s Barque. Monsignor Fenton died of congestive heart failure, after suffering a series of heart attacks that began in the mid to late 1950s. At about this time he was beginning to clearly see to what extent a new sort of Modernism had invaded the Church. Perhaps he, like Pope St. Pius X, really died of a broken heart, after working so long and hard to defend and promote the Church he had loved all his life.<\/p>\n

Michaels\u2019 review of Msgr. Fenton\u2019s journals begins below.<\/p>\n

Explosive Background on Vatican II<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton was a priest of the diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, ordained in 1930. He taught at the Catholic University of America and served as editor of the\u00a0American Ecclesiastical Review<\/em>\u00a0from 1943-1963. In 1931, he received his doctorate degree in Sacred Theology from the Angelicum in Rome. His dissertation was written under the direction of Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (d. 1964) and was published in expanded form ten years later as\u00a0The Concept of Sacred Theology<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Bruce Publishing).<\/p>\n

Under Pope Pius XII, Fenton was named monsignor and received various papal honors (source<\/strong><\/a>). He published numerous books and distinguished himself as a gifted, competent, and orthodox Catholic theologian entirely loyal to the Magisterium of the Church. Over the years, Fenton battled many Modernist errors and engaged in heated polemics with their proponents. In particular, he forcefully refuted the\u00a0error of religious liberty promoted by Jesuit Fr. John Courtney Murray, which later became Novus Ordo doctrine<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0At the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), Fenton was a theological expert (peritus<\/em>) for Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, the then-Secretary of the Holy Office, who was also a personal friend of Fenton\u2019s.<\/p>\n

A number of Mgr. Fenton\u2019s personal diaries have been preserved in an archive of the Catholic University of America. Now, for the first time ever, these journals have been\u00a0scanned and made available online<\/strong>\u00a0for worldwide public perusal. We are pleased to share the links with you in an effort to further a greater and more accurate understanding of the true history of the Second Vatican Council and the theological struggles that occurred between Catholics and Modernists before, during, and after the council.<\/p>\n

What follows is a list of links to the individual diaries available\u00a0\u2014 numerous explosive quotes from the various journals are found further below in this post.<\/p>\n

Mgr. Fenton\u2019s Diaries Online<\/strong><\/p>\n

(in chronological order\u00a0\u2014 titles are Fenton\u2019s own)<\/p>\n

Please Note: Each LIVE<\/strong> link leads to a downloadable PDF file; these files are large (anywhere from 20 to 150 MB each), so keep this in mind as you try to download or open them.<\/p>\n