The Catholic Missourian editor has been on pilgrimage for 25 years

It was really cool watching my mom and dad put together the church newspaper. That got me excited about newspapers.”

Jay Nies, editor, The Catholic Missourian

The Catholic Missourian Editor Jay Nies likes to begin his articles by placing the story in God’s hands.

Before asking a single interview question, he invites his guests to join him in prayer.

“I always lead people in the ‘Glory Be,’ if we can,” he said. “I think it’s important that we acknowledge God is present and we ask him to inspire us during the interview, and also to inspire the people who will eventually read the article.”

After reciting the prayer together, the interview begins.

The serenity of the ‘Glory Be’ is replaced by the thunder of the keyboard as Mr. Nies transcribes the conversation, fingers always racing against another approaching deadline.

For 25 years, Mr. Nies — relying on God’s help — has been inspiring readers through his journalism in The Catholic Missourian.

The Chancery staff celebrated the anniversary during a special luncheon on Friday, July 21.

Mr. Nies joined the newspaper in 1998 as associate editor.

A lifelong St. Louisan, he arrived with little knowledge of the diocese he would be covering. But he knew a lot about journalism, having grown up in a home where newspapers were written and assembled on the dining room table.

“I’m looking forward to working for a paper that asks, ‘What does it mean to be Catholic in the Jefferson City diocese, and where does that put us in relation to the rest of the world?” Mr. Nies said in  The Catholic Missourian article announcing his hire.

The years since that quote can be catalogued into a succession of deadlines, each bringing the responsibility of transforming 24 blank pages into a mirror that reflects our diocese in that living moment.

“It’s clear to me, as someone who worked closely with Jay for many years at the Chancery, that he really treats his work as a Christian ministry," said Deacon Dan Joyce, former diocesan communications director. “Through his topic selection, informative and clear writing, and creative photography, he conveys to us how the Holy Spirit is at work in the Diocese of Jefferson City.”

While Mr. Nies has documented a number of monumental moments in our history, much of his reporting highlights the daily joys happening in our community.

His style of journalism portrays an organic faith, illustrating the life of a diocese striving to live in the example of Jesus.

“I would like to thank Jay Nies for his 25 years of service to our diocese and for his continued leadership of our The Catholic Missourian,” said Bishop W. Shawn McKnight. “Talented Catholic journalists like Jay use their writing as a tool for evangelism and to help deepen the faith of their readers.

“As we celebrate Jay’s service, let us pray that his reporting will continue to inspire us to grow closer to God,” the bishop said.

Baptized by ink

Mr. Nies was only 8 years old when he was baptized into the world of journalism.

His parents had been tasked by their pastor to help set up a newspaper for their parish of St. Joseph in Manchester.

He remembers seeing them write feature stories and lay out the news on the family’s dining room table.

“It was really cool watching my mom and dad put together the church newspaper,” he said. “That got me excited about newspapers.”

He would tag along when his parents took their stories to the printers.

“You’d go in there and it smelled like ink,” he recalled. “You had all the union typesetters in their uniforms. People were running around with screens on.

“You can’t be around that and not kind of get excited about it, don’t you think?” he said.

He remembers making his own newspapers with friends, photocopying them and selling them to classmates at school — to the chagrin of a teacher who didn’t appreciate the moneymaking aspect of the venture.

He got his first real assignment as a teenager when his mom asked him to interview the school bus driver.

Despite this early exposure, when he arrived for college at Saint Louis University, Mr. Nies said he initially felt too intimidated to try reporting for the campus newspaper.

That changed during his sophomore year when a professor saw his talent and encouraged him to get involved.

“My life revolved around the paper from that time forward,” Mr. Nies said.

After college, he took on freelance assignments as he worked day jobs, hoping to eventually find full-time work as a staff reporter in St. Louis.

When that opportunity didn’t materialize, he began looking for reporting jobs in central Missouri, and found several editors who were interested in hiring him.

He accepted an offer to be a general assignment reporter for the Sedalia Democrat.

Living in Sedalia was his first exposure to the Diocese of Jefferson City and to reading The Catholic Missourian.

“I felt comfortable reading it,” Mr. Nies said. “There was a lot of good stuff in there.”

When a reporting job opened at the diocesan newspaper, he took a chance and applied.

Breaking news

Mr. Nies had just arrived at The Catholic Missourian when one of the biggest stories of his career broke — Pope John Paul II would travel to St. Louis in January of 1999.

It would be a historic moment for all Catholics in the region.

Mr. Nies was granted press credentials to cover the event. For a native St. Louisan, it was a thrill to be present for the pope’s visit, and to watch as the Catholic faith of our state and region was put on display for the world.

Just six years after that historic visit, Mr. Nies was tasked with putting together a newspaper announcing the death of the pope. He counts this as one of the most impactful moments he’s experienced in journalism — and in his own life as a Catholic.

“In many ways, our history can be broken down into the time before Pope John Paul II, and the time after,” said Mr. Nies. “I suspect that people who aren’t born yet will still be unpacking his insights and finding new ways to apply them long after we’ve all left this world.”

Between those two historic events, Mr. Nies also played a critical role in communicating to our faithful as stories of sexual abuse inside the Church were coming to light in the early 2000s.

He remembers that as a painful and confusing time and as a very challenging situation for a Catholic journalist.

He also remembers seeing how our community came together during that period in a way that he had not experienced before.

He experienced closeness and camaraderie, even as the Church reckoned with pain and sorrow.

But over the years, the stories of joy have vastly outnumbered those of pain. He found it especially inspiring to report on the opening of sainthood causes for Missouri natives Venerable Father Augustus Tolton and Servant of God Julia Greeley.

He believes these stories “challenge us to get better at recognizing heroic virtue as it’s being lived out among us, possibly by people so far out on the margins that we don’t even notice them.”

Collaborative mission

The past decade saw Mr. Nies cover a historic transition in our diocese, with the retirement of the Bishop Emeritus John R. Gaydos and the subsequent ordination of Bishop McKnight.

As editor, Mr. Nies must maintain open communication with his bishop, who is publisher of The Catholic Missourian.

He tries to ensure that his journalistic decisions don’t run contrary to his bishop’s perspective.

He also works closely with his colleagues in the Communications Office to help support important diocesan initiatives.

“Catholic journalism is even more important today than when Jay started working for The Catholic Missourian 25 years ago, and Jay’s body of work illustrates why,” said Helen Osman, who served as diocesan director of communications through 2021 and continues to serve as a consultant.

“While he covers the work of the clergy and the Chancery, the stories that really change hearts and minds are those about everyday Catholics who are practicing their faith in extraordinary ways,” she stated. “Jay manages to bring these unsung heroes into readers’ hearts and imaginations in a way that really builds communion. Jay understands storytelling in an intuitive way that is really rare — and I say that having seen the work of Catholic journalists around the world! He’s a real treasure, and the local church of the Diocese of Jefferson City is blessed to have him.”

Sacred pilgrimage

Having written thousands of articles, Mr. Nies acknowledges that the puzzle pieces of a good narrative aren’t always easy to put together.

Some stories are mathematic — the formula is there, you just need to fill in the blanks. Others are like searching in the dark until inspiration finally strikes — often in the heat of an approaching deadline.

Either way, he says he always tries to find a sense of beauty in the subjects he illuminates through his writing.

“That’s what I like about our Liturgy. That’s what I like about our Scriptures,” he said. “There’s something in the language that elevates it. I like that. It’s something you can aim for.”

Those who have followed his writing appreciate the depth of understanding that Mr. Nies brings to his craft.

“Jay has a great sense of history and a passion for learning,” said Mark Saucier, Catholic Missourian columnist and former diocesan missions and communications director.

“As a journalist, he is not just a storyteller, but an educator,” said Mr. Saucier. “Seldom will anyone read one of Jay’s articles and not learn something new — and not just some tangential fact, but something about a person or event that contributes to a fuller understanding and appreciation.

“We kid him sometimes about the length of his articles,” Mr. Saucier noted, “but we must realize how difficult brevity is for one who sees the vast interconnectedness of everything over time. I don’t know of anyone who has given more to their mission or sought less personal attention in doing so. We should all be grateful for the many gifts Jay has brought to The Catholic Missourian and to the people of this diocese.”

Looking back, Mr. Nies likened his work as a Catholic reporter to being on a “sacred pilgrimage” with his readers.

“I get to be right here with them, learning new things and discovering new ways to get closer to God,” he said. “I get to go to Mass and attend events with them and share some of their experiences.

“God ministers to me through people I interact with in this work, often in ways I don’t notice right away,” he said. “Looking back especially at times of darkness and confusion, I recognize people who said and did things that permanently altered my approach to this life and gave me a new kind of hope for what is to come in the next.”

Having now crossed the milestone of stewarding The Catholic Missourian for 25 years, Mr. Nies gave special thanks to Associate Editor and Advertising Coordinator Kelly Martin. Mrs. Martin and Mr. Nies have been working together on the paper since 2003.

He praised how Mrs. Martin makes the paper consistently better through her design work as well as her proofreading of stories and layouts, often on very tight deadlines.

“Jay is certainly a talented writer, but it’s his capacity to accentuate the faith in every piece he writes. His knowledge on the subject at hand is second only to the eloquence in his writings. I liken him to a masterful artist — painting with both broad strokes and a fine-tip brush to create a beautifully blended work of art,” Mrs. Martin remarked.

He’s also very grateful to his girlfriend, Mary Koeneman, for her patience, encouragement and daily prayer support, and to his parents and siblings.

Looking ahead, Mr. Nies said he has high hopes for the future — and he continues to ask for God’s blessings:

“I hope we can keep opening doors of engagement between our readers and the leaders of the Church. I want people to stay curious and open to learning about the history, common experiences and the revealed, objective truth that unites us as Catholic followers of Christ.

“I want the Catholics here to have a steady current of content that can lift up their minds and souls and focus their gaze on Christ. I want to help bring clarity to things that cause confusion and unnecessary division. I want to help people look for ways to lead their families and friends and everyday acquaintances into deeper communion with their Maker. 

“More than anything else, I want to be in heaven with all of them someday and hopefully hear all of the stories that I missed during our time here together.”

Mr. Luecke is director of communications for the Jefferson City diocese.