ROME (CNS) --- Unless the Catholic Church can show the world concrete models of male-female cooperation in positions of responsibility and decision-making, the church will continue to struggle against charges that it is chauvinistic, said Mary Ann Glendon. The Harvard law professor and president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences said church teaching that women and men are equal, but not identical, is a healthy corrective to the feminism of the late 20th century, which, she said, promoted a "unisex society." Glendon and Lucetta Scaraffia, a professor at Rome's La Sapienza University, spoke at a Dec. 15 Rome conference on "Feminism and the Catholic Church." Both women argued that, despite a widely held prejudice, for centuries the Catholic Church has been a key promoter of women's dignity and equality, particularly by offering them education and through women's religious orders, which raised up generations of strong, creative leaders.

Both sides agree to $75 million plan to pay Portland sex abuse claims
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) --- The Archdiocese of Portland will not need to sell off parish or school property under terms of a $75 million settlement between the archdiocese and almost 150 sex abuse claimants. The more than 100-page settlement plan was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland Dec. 18, a week after U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan stood with church officials and victims' lawyers in a federal courthouse in Eugene to say the claims had been settled after more than three months of arduous private negotiations. Among the resolved cases is the $135 million suit that in 2004 pushed the archdiocese to become the first Catholic archdiocese or diocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy. At one point last year, abuse suits against the Archdiocese of Portland added up to more than $500 million. "We do not anticipate any parish property or school property to be liquidated or contributed or collateralized to fund the joint plan," said the judge, calling that result "the good news" of the day.

Study: Efforts halting violent game sales to minors improve; more needed
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Major retail chains have improved their policies against selling violent video games to minors, but they're not perfect, according to a Dec. 13 report issued jointly by Christian Brothers Investment Services and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. A look at seven nationwide sellers of video games showed that all seven follow the same three of 26 elements judged by the two organizations to be part of an "effective, responsible and well-monitored video game sales policy": store signage featuring game ratings, age verification in stores and employee training programs. Overall, the retailers' compliance with all the elements suggested in the report varies. Best Buy followed 20 of the 26, followed closely by Target with 19. Trailing were Circuit City with 15, Game Stop with 13, Wal-Mart with 12, Toys "R" Us with 10, and Sears and Kmart, now jointly owned, with eight.

In second attack, crowd assaults Indian archbishop, priests
BANGALORE, India (CNS) --- A crowd of 1,000 people shouted anti-Christian slogans and some of them assaulted Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore Dec. 18 when he visited a church and a school attacked the previous night. The mob pulled the archbishop and two priests from their car and verbally abused them. The incident occurred at Jalahalli, a suburb of Bangalore, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. The archbishop came to visit two Claretian priests who were attacked by alleged Hindu fanatics the previous night. The attackers also damaged St. Thomas Church and St. Claret School, which the Claretians manage. In the Dec. 18 incident, the mob detained the archbishop and the priests for more than 20 minutes. The Claretians were locked inside and remained unaware of the prelate's presence at their gate. Archbishop Moras had to call a high-ranking state police officer to rescue him and the priests. Father Jacob Arackal, the Claretians' local superior, told UCA News the incidents were "all pre-planned" to discredit the church.

Catholic cartoon pioneer Joseph Barbera dies at 95
LOS ANGELES (CNS) --- Joseph Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that first found its fortune in cartoon shorts for theaters then struck gold anew in television, died Dec. 18 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 95. In a 1993 interview with Catholic News Service, Barbera said his talent in art was first noticed by the nuns who taught him in a Catholic grade school in Brooklyn, N.Y. The nuns kept him busy doing classroom art until his mother complained that the pictures were taking precedence over his other studies. Barbera joined MGM in 1937. He and partner William Hanna, who died in 2001, created the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry in 1940. They produced more than 100 cartoons for the MGM studio over a 20-year period. Between 1943 and 1953, they garnered seven Academy Awards for animated shorts. When MGM disbanded its animation department in 1957 because of the growth of television, Hanna and Barbera cast their lot with TV, immediately winning an Emmy Award for children's programming in 1958 with the "Huckleberry Hound Show."

Researchers urge better auditing, fraud response in Catholic parishes
VILLANOVA, Pa. (CNS) --- More than four out of five U.S. dioceses have experienced embezzlement or other misuse of parish funds within the past five years, but only two-fifths have formal written fraud policies, two Villanova University researchers said. Villanova business school professors Robert West and Charles Zech reported that according to a national survey of chief diocesan financial officers 21 percent said the diocese "seldom or never" audits parish finances and only 3 percent said such audits are conducted every year. The most common practice, they found, was to have a diocesan audit when a parish has a change in its pastor or bookkeeper. The median reported time between audits was four years. The researchers recommended that all parishes undergo internal audits every year, supplemented by an external audit at least once every three years. They recommended all parishes and high schools submit financial data to the diocese at least annually and preferably more often.

Apostolate urges Kwanzaa celebrations reflect sacredness of life
NEW YORK (CNS) --- The head of the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life in New York has urged that Kwanzaa observances between Christmas and New Year's Day reflect the sacredness of life. "Kwanzaa for Life 2006 is an occasion for us African-American Catholics to renew our value of family life, celebrate our heritage and defend the sacredness of life," Franciscan Father James Goode said. "Our contribution as black Catholics to Kwanzaa for Life will be to choose life and help our community choose life." This year marks the sixth annual Kwanzaa for Life sponsored by the apostolate, supported by all the major black Catholic organizations in the United States. Kwanzaa is a nonreligious celebration of African-American history and culture, focusing on community and family. The seven-day festival begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1.

Pope meets B'nai B'rith leaders, says all faiths must work for peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Peace will come to the Holy Land only if Jews, Christians and Muslims seek it together, Pope Benedict XVI told a delegation from B'nai B'rith International. Representatives of the Jewish human rights organization met the pope Dec. 18 at the Vatican. "I reiterate my unfailing hope and prayer for peace in the Holy Land," he told them. "Peace can only come about if it is the concern of Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, expressed in genuine interreligious dialogue and concrete gestures of reconciliation," the pope said. "All believers are challenged to show that it is not hatred and violence, but understanding and peaceful cooperation which open the door to that future of justice and peace which is God's promise and gift," Pope Benedict said.