The Pope referred to news of dozens killed, including many children and women, in a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near the Syrian capital.

He offered prayers for the dead and the families that are suffering.

“There is not a good or a bad war, and nothing can justify such instruments that exterminate defenceless people and populations,” Francis said.

“Let’s pray that the responsible politicians and military leaders choose another path: that of negotiations, the only one that can bring peace.”

Earlier, in a Mass focused on mercy, a signature theme of his papacy, Francis urged the faithful to not give up on the sacrament of reconciliation, especially those who continue to backslide.

He urged the faithful to continue to seek reconciliation, or confession, because “every time we are forgiven, we are reassured and encouraged”.

The divine mercy Sunday celebration was established by Pope John Paul II, and this year kicks off a four-day meeting of Francis’s Missionaries of Mercy, formed during the recent Holy Year of Mercy to promote confession.

On Tuesday, the missionaries are due to have an audience with Francis, followed by a special Mass with him at St Peter’s Basilica.

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Leila Sherwood first met the heir to the throne in 1979 as a 14-year-old, when she skipped school to see him at Cairns Airport.

“I broke through a barrier and jumped out in front of him.

“I said ‘Charles, may I kiss you?’ He said ‘yes, all right then’, so I pecked his cheek. I was all over the TV afterwards.”

Greeting the prince once again outside St John the Evangelist Church on Sunday, the now 54-year-old showed him a newspaper clipping from the time.

She said: “He held my hand and said ‘bless you’ – I didn’t want to let go of his hand!”

The Prince of Wales hailed the “remarkable” Flying Doctors service as he visited the Cairns base – and said he was “very proud” to be its patron.

On a tour of the base, the prince chatted to staff about their work in giving urgent medical help to people in rural areas of Queensland, and was given a demonstration of how to treat a snake bite.

He also had the chance to speak to people who rely on the service, before formally naming the newest addition to the Flying Doctors fleet, uniquely configured as an ‘intensive care unit of the sky’, as the Outback Angel.

He said: “I’m very proud to be patron of the Flying Doctors. It’s a remarkable operation.”

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German prosecutors have no indication why a 48-year-old man drove a van into a crowd of people in the western city of Munster, killing two and injuring 20 before shooting himself dead inside the van.

“As of now, we don’t have any leads regarding a possible background for the deed,” prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt wrote in a joint statement with police.

“The investigations are being led under high pressure in all possible directions.”

Authorities have identified the two fatalities of Saturday’s crash as a 51-year-old woman from Lueneburg County and a 65-year-old man from Broken County.

The city’s Roman Catholic bishop, Felix Glenn, invited all of Munster’s citizens to a joint Catholic-Lutheran memorial service at the famous Paulus Cathedral on Sunday night.

Local media have identified the perpetrator as a German industrial designer living in Munster who had been suffering from psychological problems, but police would not confirm the details.

All three bodies were taken from the scene in front of the well-known Kiepenkerl pub early on Sunday night.

The silver-grey van was hauled away hours later after explosives experts had thoroughly checked it.

“The van is not at the crime scene any more, all kinds of objects have also been removed, waste of course, as well as evidence that we’ve found on the ground,” police spokeswoman…