THE POISONED CHALICE

Sex crimes and cover ups, financial scandal, declining membership and unprecedented self-abnegation - or was it self-preservation? - of its chief executive. These were the ingredients of the twenty-first century crisis in the Vatican that ought to have predictably led to the election of a conservative steady hand, a career bureaucrat, and an insider. Instead, they chose Francis.

In over forty years of first-hand experience reporting from "inside the Gateway", David Willey has never seen the Vatican in a greater state of flux, as Francis' words and deeds have enchanted, entertained, and sometimes enraged the public. David is uniquely positioned to tell the inside story of how this most unlikely man came from "the end of the world" to lead the world's largest corporation into the future, and will use his unparallel access and knowledge of inner workings of the Vatican to chronicle Francis' first two years as pope, while seeking to further unravel the mysteries and conspiracies which continue to surround the worlldwide headquaters of the Roman Catholic Church. David Willey is the BBC's longest serving foreign correspondent and the author of two previous books, Italians and God's Politician. In 2004 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to broadcast journalism.