David Wyllie, who worked as a BBC foreign correspondent for more than half a century, has died aged 93.
He reported from Algeria, Vietnam and China, but is best known for his time in Rome as the BBC’s Vatican correspondent, where he covered the papacies of five popes.
Widely regarded as one of the Vatican’s most accomplished journalists, Willie has written a book about Pope Francis and was awarded an OBE for services to broadcast journalism.
He was still working well even when he was ninety years old. Last year, after the death of Pope Francis, Willie reflected on how the Vatican had changed under the late pontiff.
“He was an incredible authority on the Vatican, reporting and traveling with five Popes, and was very kind, advising and supportive when I started working in Rome in 2019,” wrote Mark Lowen, a BBC correspondent and presenter.
News producer Gillian Hazell, who worked closely with Willey in Rome, said he was “a respected friend and colleague with a mischievous sense of humor and endless fascinating stories from his assignments around the world.”
Willie began his career as a news agency intern at Reuters and covered the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The document that established the European Economic Community formed the basis of what is now called the European Union.
“In fact, I was there, in a huge room, frescoed with scenes of ancient Roman battles, when the six frock-coated founders of the Europe Six signed the Treaty,” he wrote at the 50th anniversary in 2007.
“The room was crowded with members of parliament, city officials and, as I recall, a single red-capped cardinal from the Vatican.”
Willie then worked as a freelancer in Algeria before becoming the BBC’s East Africa correspondent in 1964.
He then reported from Asia, including the Vietnam War, and China after the communist revolution.
But David Willey will be best remembered for his decades of work in Rome.
He became an authority in the papacies of five popes. One of his most notable assignments was the assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981.
Last year Willie met his fifth Pope, the newly elected Pope Leo.