Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis washing the feet of young offenders (above) inspires Easter rite at Los Angeles county juvenile detention facility and young offenders write to Holy Father from LA prison on Good Friday.

Pope Francis approves first decrees on future saints, recognising the martyrdom of 62 people killed during the Spanish Civil War and in the Nazi concentration camps. (Video).

Caritas pledges support for Syrian refugees. Deacon in training killed in Holy Week bomb blast in Damascus.

Northern Ireland must ‘consolidate the gains’ of peace, says the US secretary of state, ahead of the 15th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

“When religious freedom is beginning to be eclipsed, it leads inevitably to genuine persecution,” say US authors of of a new book on the global persecution of Christians.

OPINIONS

Pope Francis’s Easter services could hint at Vatican reform.

Easter message by Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth.

—Cross Wires is The Scottish Catholic Observer blog. Follow breaking news from the SCO through the day on Twitter at SCO_NEWS.