McGuinness was an early activist in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. Later, joined the Irish Republican Army, which was leading an armed insurrection against British rule in Northern Ireland.

Despite this surge of goodwill, questions remain about whether these new connections can endure.

The invitation came amid increasingly closer relations between the Vatican and al-Azhar University, which is considered the most authoritative theological-academic institution of Sunni Islam.

Pope Francis asked God's forgiveness for the failures of the Catholic Church during the 1994 Rwanda genocide and for the hatred and violence perpetrated by some priests and religious.

Currently, 27 states and the District of Columbia have some type of school choice measure in place and several states have legislation on the table for it this year.

"Let us think about Patrick the 'unlearned refugee' (as he once described himself), the slave in exile, Patrick the undocumented migrant."