Nuns escape care home to return to their convent

Three faithful nuns have fled their care home to return to the convent walls in a move that has been met with bewilderment by Church officials.

Sister Bernadette, 88, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Rita, 82, returned to their 15th-century castle, Schloss Goldenstein, situated on the outskirts of Salzburg, Austria, where they had spent their entire lives as religious and taught at the school also located on the site.

The change in premises began in 2022 when the convent was placed under the care of a local Augustinian monastery, and Provost Markus Grasl of the Augustinian Canons’ Monastery of Reichersberg was appointed Apostolic Commissioner. At the end of 2023, the three sisters—then the only remaining nuns of the monastery—were relocated to Kahlsperg Castle, a care home less than five miles away, in what was described as an involuntary move.

The nuns, whose years of service at the school, which had been all girls until 2017, earned them the respect and affection of former pupils and the wider community, were helped by those same former pupils to escape the care home and return to their former residence.

A locksmith was called, and once the nuns gained access to the convent, they discovered that the building had no running water or electricity, and that their stairlift had been removed. They have since been cared for by former pupils and well-wishers who have brought food and supplies, with a doctor also visiting to ensure they are in good health.

While the sisters have supporters in their former pupils, Church authorities have expressed concern. Provost Grasl described the sisters’ actions as “completely incomprehensible” and “an escalation.”

The nuns, however, have not relented and have taken to social media to document their religious life once again within the convent walls. Surrounded by friends and well-wishers, they are shown eating from Tupperware containers and attending Holy Mass in a convent that appears to have been given a new lease of life.

It is not clear how the matter will be resolved, but in a recent interview with the BBC, one of the nuns said: “Before I die in that old people’s home, I would rather go to a meadow and enter eternity that way.” She also quipped that while “I have been obedient all my life,” moving from the monastery to the care home was “too much.”

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Photo credit: nonnen_goldenstein instagram