The veteran journalist, who served as a BBC foreign correspondent for more than half a century, reported from Algeria, Vietnam and China but is best known for his work covering the Vatican
Legendary BBC newsman David Willey has died at the age of 93, the corporation has announced. The veteran journalist, who served as a BBC foreign correspondent for more than half a century, reported from Algeria, Vietnam and China.
But he was best known for his time in Rome as the BBC’s Vatican correspondent, where he covered the reign of five different popes. He wrote a book on Pope Francis and was awarded an OBE for services to broadcast journalism.
And he was still working well into his nineties. Last year, after the death of Pope Francis, Willey reflected on how the Vatican had changed under the late pontiff. David died of heart failure in Italy, the country he made his home.
A BBC obituary read: “Until the end, he remained incisive in his analysis, generous with his time, and an invaluable resource, for those reporters who came after him.”
Mark Lowen, BBC correspondent and presenter, said: “He was an incredible authority on the Vatican, reporting and travelling with five Popes, and was so kind, giving me insight and encouragement when I started in Rome in 2019.”
David began as a trainee for the world renowned Reuters news agency and covered the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The document, which established the European Economic Community, formed the basis for what is now the European Union.
He then worked as a freelancer in Algeria, before becoming the BBC’s east Africa correspondent in 1964. He later reported on the Vietnam War and was dispatched to China after the communist revolution.
The BBC said he will likely be best remembered for his decades of work in Rome, where he became an authority on the papacies of five different popes.
One of his most notable assignments was the assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981. Last year, Willey met his fifth pope – the newly elected Pope Leo.
In an article he wrote last year, he said: “I have suddenly realised with something of shock that I am already not only four years older than the late Pope Francis, but that my own life now extends through no fewer than eight successive papal reigns.”
Willey recalled first reporting on the Vatican for Reuters in the 1950s, writing: “We depended upon a corrupt Vatican official to get the text of an important papal speech ahead of delivery.
“It was my job to take the bus down to the cafe opposite the main workers’ entrance to Vatican City at eight in the morning one Easter Sunday to surreptitiously pick up a document that he had smuggled out.”