Pope Francis’ native Argentina has taken a strong stance against homosexuality as a priest who endorsed the gay marriage law approved in the South American country in 2010 has been expelled from the church, his local archbishop’s office said Friday.

The offensive against the legislation was led by Jorge Bergoglio, then the archbishop of Buenos Aires and now Pope Francis.

Father Jose Nicolas Alessio, who served in the central province of Cordoba and was first suspended in 2010, and now been defrocked altogether, expressed bitter disappointment.

“More than 30 years serving God’s people has meant nothing for the Catholic Church. All it took to get thrown out was having an opinion different from that of the archbishop,” he said.

Argentina was the first Latin American country to recognize same-s*x marriage. It is also allowed in Mexico City and was approved just this week in Uruguay.

So far around 6,000 gay couples have been joined in Argentina, activists say.