President George W. Bush received an especially warm welcome from Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Friday (June 13), as the two leaders met for the third time in little more than a year. Instead of receiving his guest in the papal apartments, as protocol ordinarily dictates, Benedict greeted the president and First Lady Laura Bush at the entrance to the Tower of St. John, a restored medieval structure in the Vatican gardens. According to a statement from the Vatican press office, the highly personal “special protocol” was a gesture of thanks for the “cordiality of the welcome” that Benedict received during his visit to the U.S. in April.