PORTLAND, Ore. – Claudia Raffaele knows the fear of being stopped at gunpoint in Argentina, the bone-tiredness that comes after a nine-hour shift at a Los Angeles factory, and the worry and emotional weight of caring for three children as a single mother.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Mateo studied baking and Leandro pastry making. Franco and Mauricio wanted to be waiters. These overlapping interests led the four friends with Down syndrome to start a successful pizza service in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he's received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel.

TIGRE, Argentina – The Polish pope, St. John Paul II, made nine visits to his country of birth, the first in 1979, less than a year after his election.

VATICAN CITY – The theological commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved last week a miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Catalina de María Rodríguez, foundress of the Slaves of the Heart of Jesus.

MEXICO CITY – An outspoken Argentine priest known for denouncing the threat of drug trafficking and warning of rising crime in the northern part of the country was found hanged Oct. 5 in his parish home.

SAN NICOLAS DE LOS ARROYOS, Argentina – Once a month, thousands of devout Catholics descend on this small industrial city, where a woman with little education but great faith said she began seeing visions of the Virgin Mary on Sept. 25, 1983.

VATICAN CITY - At the request of Pope Francis, material in the Vatican Secret archives relating to Argentina's "Dirty War" is expected to be opened in the coming months, the Vatican spokesman said.

VATICAN CITY - The sainthood cause of Argentine Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio, who organized the first World Youth Days as president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, has been forwarded to the Vatican.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - In a sprawling working class parish founded by Jesuit Father Jorge Bergoglio long before he became archbishop of Buenos Aires and later Pope Francis, the faithful are lamenting the results of Argentina's November elections in which businessman Mauricio Macri was elected president.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis was unwittingly thrust into the centre of a long-running diplomatic dispute between Argentina and the U.K. after holding a sign calling for dialogue over the Falkland Islands.

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Pope Francis returned to his roots July 12 when he visited Banado Norte, a poor neighbourhood near the Paraguay River where residents battle seasonal flooding and face possible eviction.