From Inside the Vatican, a thorough report on the Bush-Benedict meeting, along with some of Pope Benedict’s other activities of the day, reflecting the Big Picture:

So Benedict left a meeting with Bush to give a speech to North African bishops’ focused on working in collaboration with local Muslims, and to introduce two new, key appointments, one for the Congregation which oversees the Churches in the Middle East, the other for the Vatican’s top diplomatic post, and the men he introduced were Sandri, an extremely savvy and experienced diplomat, and Filoni, who has just had five years of first-hand experience of the Middle East, and of Iraq in particular. In the delicate language of Vatican juxtaposition, the three meetings on the same day — Bush, the North African bishops, the Oriental Congregation to introduce Sandri and Filoni — speak volumes about the Vatican’s focus and intentions. The Pope is giving his personal attention to the question of Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East, and choosing the best men available to him to help him forge a policy to protect the remaining Christians of that region of the world.