"Nuns reclaim convent after lifetime of obedience"

Nuns Defy Orders to Return to Beloved Convent

Sister Bernadette remembers a time when she had trouble rousing her students at the Goldenstein convent boarding school. “They’d beg me, ‘Just five more minutes, Berna,’” she recalled with a smile. Decades later, the roles have reversed, with former students now helping to wake the three remaining nuns. “Sister Bernadette especially enjoys sleeping in,” said Christina Wirtenberger, one of their caretakers.

Sisters Bernadette, 88, Regina, 86, and Rita, nearly 82, are still adjusting after fleeing a nearby retirement home on 4 September, where they had been placed—against their wishes—and returning to their former convent, the historic Schloss Goldenstein in Elsbethen, near Salzburg.

Their superior since 2022, Provost Markus Grasl from Reichersberg Abbey, claims they violated their vow of obedience by reclaiming their former home, arguing they now live in “unsuitable conditions” for their age. He insists moving them to a care facility was a necessary step, discussed with the sisters beforehand.

The nuns reject this version of events and have gained widespread support, with more than 50,000 followers on social media tracking the octogenarians’ defiance.

Wirtenberger, a former pupil who boarded at the school in 1970, led the effort to bring them back. “They were told it would be a short stay,” she said. “But after nearly two years, seeing them so unhappy, we had to act.”

With legal assistance and help from locals—along with journalists sworn to secrecy—the nuns were taken from the care home and returned to their convent. A locksmith helped them inside, while an electrician and plumber restored utilities.

Before their removal, Regina, known as ‘Regi,’ had lived at the convent since 1959 and served as headmistress, teaching multiple subjects and managing finances. Rita, nicknamed ‘Ritsch,’ was known for her lively spirit and gardening, joining permanently in 1969. Bernadette (‘Berna’), considered the strictest, spent over 70 years there, first as a student, then a teacher, handling cooking and sewing.

When they first joined the nearly 150-year-old convent, around 30 nuns lived there. With no new members, their numbers declined, leaving only Bernadette, Rita, and Regina in recent decades.