Three Austrian nuns in their 80s have run away from the old people's home where they were placed and gone back to their former convent.
Sister Bernadette, 88, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Rita, 82, are the last three nuns at the Kloster Goldenstein convent in Elsbethen, just outside Salzburg.
They regained access with the help of former students and a locksmith.
Church authorities are not happy - but the nuns are.
I am so pleased to be home, Sister Rita said. I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back.
The trio say they were taken out of the convent against their will in December 2023.
We weren't asked, Sister Bernadette said. We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken.
The three nuns have spent much of their lives at Schloss Goldenstein, a castle that has been a convent and a private girls' school since 1877. The school, which started accepting boys in 2017, is still functioning.
Sister Bernadette attended the school herself, arriving as a teenager in 1948. One of her fellow students was the Austrian film actress Romy Schneider.
Sister Regina arrived at the convent in 1958, and Sister Rita four years later.
All three went on to work at the school as teachers for many years. Sister Regina was headmistress.
But the number of nuns dwindled.
In 2022, the building was taken over by the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Reichersberg Abbey, an Augustinian monastery. Provost Markus Grasl from the abbey became the nuns' superior.
The community was officially dissolved at the beginning of 2024, and the remaining nuns were granted lifelong right of residence, as long as their health and mental capacity allowed.
In December 2023, the decision was made to transfer them to a Catholic care home, where they were unhappy.
At the beginning of September, Sister Bernadette, Sister Rita, and Sister Regina moved back, helped by a group of former students.
I have been obedient all my life, but it was too much, Sister Bernadette said.
They packed up a few belongings and returned to the convent, with a locksmith helping them regain access to their former apartments.
Initially, there was no electricity or water. However, connections have now been partially restored!
Provost Grasl stated that the nuns' decision to return was completely incomprehensible and noted the rooms in the convent were no longer usable due to their health conditions.
Supporters continue to bring food and groceries, and the nuns have received medical attention.
A steady stream of visitors, many of whom are their former students, have been welcomed.
The nuns express a deep commitment to staying at the convent, with Sister Bernadette asserting, Before I die in that old people's home, I would rather go to a meadow and enter eternity that way.
