Argentina's Catholic Church will no longer receive public funding, concluding a process established by the country's bishops' conference for the church to provide its own financing.

Pope Francis has downplayed the discourteous comments toward him from Argentine President Javier Milei -- who previously accused the pope of preaching "communism" -- attributing the remarks to electioneering in his home country.

Upstart presidential candidate Javier Milei, who attacked Pope Francis as "filthy leftist," overwhelmingly won Argentina's presidential election on a radical libertarian platform of dollarizing the economy and shrinking the state in a country beset by recurring economic crises and triple-digit inflation.

Comments by a leading Argentinian presidential candidate may have dampened hopes that Pope Francis would soon visit his home country for the first time since becoming pope, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis told Uruguay's new ambassador to the Holy See that a future visit to the country as well as to his native Argentina is still very much on the table.

MEXICO CITY -- Argentina has legalized abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, despite strong Catholic opposition and polls showing deep divisions on the issue.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis met Argentina's new president, Alberto Fernandez, amid widespread speculation that they would talk about the pope finally returning to his homeland for a visit.

MEXICO CITY -- An Argentine court has convicted a pair of priests of sexual abuse on charges of corrupting minors in a case involving crimes committed against 10 children in the care of a Catholic school for the deaf.

MANCHESTER, England -- After a request from Argentine veterans of the Falklands War, a British bishop will return a replica of Our Lady of Lujan that was taken to Britain as a spoils of war almost four decades ago.

VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- Pope Francis has said a preliminary investigation against Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta has concluded and will now proceed to trial.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA -- Dr. Leandro Rodríguez Lastra, an OB-GYN in Argentina, was found guilty on Monday of having prevented an abortion, after he decided to save the life of an unborn baby whose mother had taken an abortion pill.

VATICAN – In a letter commemorating the sixth anniversary of Pope Francis' election, the bishops of Argentina said they will ask the Pope to visit his homeland.

VATICAN – Catholics cannot place blame for the sexual abuse crisis on "those who came before us" in an attempt "to present ourselves as 'pure,'" said the editorial director of the Vatican media outlets.

VATICAN – A bishop from Argentina who had been working in the Vatican's real estate administration office is the object of a preliminary diocesan investigation after accusations came to light of sexual abuse, abuse of power and mismanagement in his former Diocese of Oran.

MEXICO CITY – The Argentine Senate voted against a bill that would have decriminalized abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.