BBC veteran Vatican correspondent David Willey has died aged 93 after a career that spanned five papacies and over fifty years of worldwide reporting.
Born in the early 1930s, Willey began work with Reuters and covered the historic signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the event that founded the European Economic Community. His early years took him to Algeria, where he reported for the BBC while the country was falling apart, and then into Asia, covering the Vietnam War and the rise of the People’s Republic of China.
Willey’s reputation was solidified when he moved to Rome in 1964 as the BBC’s Vatican correspondent. Over the next four decades he covered the papacies of Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, becoming a recognised authority on Catholic affairs. His book, "The Promise of Francis: The man, the Pope, and the challenge of change", was presented to Pope Francis during a private audience in 2016.
His contributions were recognised with an Order of the British Empire for services to broadcast journalism. In the final years of his life he continued to write and interview, reflecting on how the Vatican had evolved throughout eight successive papal reigns. Mark Lowen, a BBC colleague, praised his kindness and the support he offered aspiring correspondents in Rome.
Willey died of heart failure in Italy, the country that had been his home for decades. He left a legacy of incisive reporting and an enduring resource for those who follow the news of the Holy See.
