ROME (AP) — Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a suave, silver-haired Spaniard who was a close confidant of Pope John Paul II, serving for more than two decades as chief Vatican spokesman, has died at the age of 80.

Manuel Sanchez, spokesman for the Opus Dei movement in Rome of which Navarro-Valls was a member, said Navarro-Valls died Wednesday after a long illness.

Navarro-Valls was fiercely loyal to John Paul, accompanying the Polish pope on most of his 104 international trips. He also performed delicate diplomatic missions, such as helping to prepare the pope's historic pilgrimage to Cuba.

Navarro-Valls, who spoke four languages, was a foreign correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC when John Paul offered him the job as director of the Vatican press office.

He was the first journalist to hold the post.