Pope Benedict XVI met with the new Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi on 18 May, 2011, amid concerns over the safety of Christians caught up in the Arab revolutions of the Middle East. The meeting, which followed talks between Arabi and Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, took place on the sidelines of the pope's weekly general audience, held in St. Peter's Square. Neither the Holy See nor Arabi, who will take over as Arab League chief in July, issued a statement. The meeting was expected to focus on the revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, the war in Libya, and the safety of Christian minority groups in the area.