Austrian nuns who broke out of care home await word from Vatican : NPR

Sister Regina sits in the convent chapel at Goldenstein Castle in Salzburg, Austria.

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SALZBURG, Austria — Situated at the foot of snow-capped Alpine peaks, the convent chapel of Schloss Goldenstein is lit by candlelight and prepared for Advent.

At the start of December, the mood was one of contemplation, a stark contrast to the hubbub of earlier this year.

On this occasion, there was no stampede of journalists, no opportunistic influencers and no sign of the Hollywood screenwriter seeking to buy the rights to a film. history which resonated around the world. Just three octogenarian nuns sitting in silent prayer.

Since this week, sisters say they are retiring from social media until further notice. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, sisters Rita, Regina and Bernadette said they were responding to a request from the Vatican to “spend Advent and Christmas in inner peace and reflection.”

That’s exactly how NPR found the sisters as Advent began.

But Sister Bernadette, 88, said the ritual recitation in early December was not as peaceful as it appeared. Looking over her glasses with raised eyebrows, she explained that one prayer was proving particularly difficult.

“We continue to pray for the provost,” Sister Bernadette said. “In fact, we prayed for him with every rosary for six weeks without interruption, but it became so exhausting that we decided to save our litany for him at weekly mass.”

The provost in their prayers is Markus Grasl, superior of the nuns of the local abbey. He accused the sisters of breaking their vows when in September they broke into their convent – ​​with Austria’s biggest crime. tabloid in tow. The sisters had fled a retirement home where, they said, the provost had sent them against their will.

Initially unhappy with the nuns’ refusal to stay in the nursing home, Grasl agreed last month to let them stay at the convent — but only “until further notice” and only if they gave up social media, stopped speaking to the press and stopped seeking legal advice.

The Schloss Goldenstein convent in Salzburg, Austria.

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The nuns refused his offer in early December, calling it a gag order. However, as of Wednesday, they acceded to the Vatican’s request, made last week, to take a break until further notice.

Both sides appealed to the Vatican to resolve the situation. Vatican authorities informed the sisters that they were working to find a “just, humane and lasting solution.” The Vatican did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.

Complications linked to the presence of nuns on social networks

In the meantime, the sisters go about their daily lives, which revolve around the liturgy, even if their increasingly popular Instagram account suggests the opposite.

While a growing number of Instagram’s more than 280,000 followers enjoy posts showing the sisters’ good moves and capers — like Sister Rita’s boxing sessions — the provost’s spokesman, Harald Schiffl, is less enthusiastic.

“The sisters’ presence on social media has very little to do with real religious life,” Schiffl told NPR. “And that’s why the abbey wants to delete his Instagram account.”

Sister Bernadette (left) and Sister Regina rest in front of the convent chapel in September.

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Asked if she was happy in the spotlight, Sister Rita, 82, shrugged and smiled. “The boxing sessions were fun,” she said. “I’m not sure they needed to post on Instagram, but if our followers like seeing me box, so be it!”

Sister Bernadette insists that their presence on social media was never intended to be about them: “Our Instagram account allows us to spread the message and help a new generation find Jesus in their hearts.”

But as she takes a newly reinstalled staircase up the convent’s steep spiral staircase, Sister Bernadette notices that becoming a novice influencer has been a steep learning curve. Particularly because the volunteers who help the sisters do not agree on how to manage social networks.

Christina Wirtenberger, one of the nuns’ former students who now supports them, told NPR in October that when other volunteers suggested starting the Instagram account, she said it should only be on the condition that the sisters give express permission to post each post – something the sisters now say they did not give.

The nuns distance themselves from the Instagram account

In a statement released Wednesday, the nuns claim that none of the messages and comments posted on the @nonnen_goldenstein Instagram account were “brought to our attention beforehand” or “subsequently approved by us.” They also state that if the account continues to be active during the announced social media hiatus, “this is expressly against our wishes.”

However, the Instagram account, run by a volunteer since the beginning, continues to post messages, even addressing the sisters’ decision to remove themselves from Instagram and refuting their accusation that they knew nothing of what was being posted.

Aside from internal conflicts, the nuns also expressed in the statement their “sincere gratitude” to their followers on social networks over the past months, adding that “without the support of the media, we would have been defenseless and powerless in the face of the cruelty and arbitrariness of our superior.”

Sisters Rita, 81, Regina (left), 86, and Bernadette (center), 88, pray at the convent chapel in September.

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Despite a certain naivety and lack of public relations experience, the publicity strategy was always focused on the sisters’ survival, Wirtenberger says.

She says the nuns have become unnecessarily dependent on donations. “The sisters no longer have access to their pensions, which are paid monthly into their savings account, now managed solely by the abbey’s provost Markus Grasl,” explains Wirtenberger.

She alleges the provost – who took control of the sisters’ bank account when he kicked them out of the convent two years ago – also wrongly claimed state benefits to pay for their care home.

After these allegations made local headlines Last month, Schiffl, the provost’s spokesperson, confirmed to NPR that Grasl had since returned welfare payments and insisted there had been no wrongdoing.

“The superior of the nuns submitted an application for state benefits for the sisters and it was approved,” says Schiffl.

“But the authorities changed their mind,” he says of the nuns’ eligibility for state funding. “This was a completely normal process and the issue has been resolved.”

Talk to Austrian news agency APASalzburg District Commissioner Karin Gföllner explained that the provost had not provided all details about the sisters’ financial situation. As soon as the authorities were fully aware of the facts, they stopped paying the benefits.

Sister Bernadette says she will continue to pray for the provost while waiting for news from Rome.

She, Sister Rita and Sister Regina asked the Vatican to relieve the provost of his duties within their fraternal order.

“We just hope that God’s hand will guide what happens,” Sister Bernadette says.

Raising her eyebrows, she adds, “Amen. Hallelujah.”