Rebel nuns who ran away from care home could be allowed to stay in former convent
The hills vibrate with the sound of compromise, as three unlikely rebellious nuns were offered a chance to stay at their former convent in Austria – provided they give up their Instagram habit.
Sister Bernadette, 88, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Rita, 82, were the last nuns in residence at the Goldenstein Castle Convent near Salzburg, where they had lived for decades until their expulsion for medical reasons in 2023.
The nuns, who said they were sent to a Catholic nursing home against their will, attracted worldwide attention in September when they fled care and broke into their former vacant home with the help of a locksmith, local residents and former students.
“I’m so happy to be home,” Sister Rita told the BBC at the time. “I was still homesick at the nursing home. I’m so happy and grateful to be back.”
They’ve since documented daily life in the former convent on Instagram, with videos capturing some of their favorite activities, from candle-making to boxing classes.
Church officials accused the nuns of breaking their vow of obedience during a standoff over their future, but a statement Friday said they would be offered the chance to stay in the former convent “until further notice.”
Provost Markus Grasl of Reichersberg Abbey, superior of the nuns, said that while he thought it was best for them to receive “comprehensive care in a retirement home”, he would take their wishes into account and allow them to stay at the convent, provided they returned to a “structured religious life”.
Under Grasl’s plan, the nuns would return to a “cloistered monastic life,” away from the public eye and the volunteers who provide support, with priests called instead to assist them and a doctor available for “necessary medical care.”
He cited the Christian principle of mercy regarding “some of the sisters’ actions” in recent weeks, and said donations received on their behalf, as well as funds earmarked for the sale of a book about them, should be donated to a mission project.
But a post on the nuns’ Instagram page indicated they would not immediately accept the proposal.
The stipulation that the sisters would be allowed to remain at the convent “until further notice” made the project “legally worthless,” said a statement issued on their behalf.
The trio told Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung that attempts to silence them were “laughable” and said: “We will definitely not accept this deal.”
Their legal representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
The provost’s spokesman, Harald Schiffl, told Austrian public broadcaster ORF that an agreement would be beneficial for all parties. He said that “what is conveyed on social media is not really the reality of monastic life.”
