The media are all atwitter over the release of a new document from Pope Francis on the family. The paper, “On Love In The Family,” is the result of two meetings (synods) between the pope and the world’s Catholic bishops.

Those on the left hoping that the pope would upend more than a thousand years of traditional Christian teaching on marriage and the family were disappointed. Typical of Pope Francis’ style, he calls on pastors to demonstrate more grace, while firmly advocating for the sanctity of life and normal marriage.

For example, here is what the pope wrote on life:

“I feel it urgent to state that, if the family is the sanctuary of life, the place where life is conceived and cared for, it is a horrendous contradiction when it becomes a place where life is rejected and destroyed. So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life, which is an end in itself and which can never be considered the ‘property’ of another human being.”

The pope reaffirmed Catholic teaching on marriage and defended religious liberty against government intrusion, particularly of the kind that the Obama Administration is promoting, writing:

“In discussing the dignity and mission of the family, the Synod Fathers observed that ‘… there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.’ It is unacceptable ‘that local Churches should be subjected to pressure in this matter and that international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish 'marriage’ between persons of the same sex.”

Pope Francis also challenged the left’s notion of “gender identity.” Pope Francis declared:

“Yet another challenge is posed by the various forms of an ideology of gender that denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family… It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality.”

Media Bias Against Israel

[Thursday] night, CBS Evening News ran a story about parkour, which it described as “an extreme sport blending gymnastics with agility training developed for a military obstacle course.” The parkour championships were held in Las Vegas last week, but CBS wasn’t reporting on the championships.

Instead, it was reporting from Gaza about how the Palestinian parkour team was unable to compete in Las Vegas. The broadcast looked like a propaganda piece produced by Hamas.

At one point the reporter directs the young Palestinian men toward an Israeli watchtower and asks, “What do you want them to think when they see you jumping and running?” One of the men, Hamza, answers, “No matter how much they destroy or kill, I will still dance and have fun.”

Once again, the American mainstream media presents Israel as the aggressor and the Palestinians as hapless victims. But the truth is the exact opposite.

Earlier this week, Israel suspended shipments of cement to Gaza because Hamas was diverting building materials from reconstruction projects. What is Hamas doing? It is building terror tunnels instead of homes and hospitals.

Israel Radio reported [Thursday] that Hamas has more than 1,000 operatives digging tunnels. These are not archaeological expeditions. These tunnels are meant to literally undermine the security of Israel so that Palestinian terrorists can emerge from the ground and slaughter innocent Israelis.

Why isn’t CBS reporting that news?