From Austria comes the story of 3 ‘rebel’ nuns who left an elderly care home and broke into the historic abbey where they had lived their entire adult lives.
While doing so they made headlines worldwide, amassed a captivated and supportive following on social media of over 100,000 people who cheered them on as they attempted against the will of their spiritual superiors to return to the life they loved.
Sisters Rita, 82, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, had spent a life of spiritual discipline and seclusion in the Goldenstein Castle Abbey near Salzburg, until the head of the religious order under which their nunnery was controlled determined they were no longer physically and medically fit to live alone in the historic, multi-story stone building.
But watching the videos on social media shows the dynamic trio are anything but helpless.
In September, supporters of the sisters, which included a locksmith, helped them move back into Goldenstein Castle. Former pupils have helped them settle back into their old lives, including by bringing them food, bedding and other supplies. Supporters even installed of an expensive chairlift to the convent’s third-floor living quarters.
Their cheerleaders also include legal counsel offering help with ongoing litigation between them and the religious authorities headed by Provost Markus Grasl from Reichersberg Abbey, who initially made the decision to move the sisters into a nursing home.
“We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken. I have been obedient all my life, but it was too much,” Sister Bernadette said, according to the Female Quotient. Sister Rita added, “I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back.”
Litigation outside of court has gone on since the nuns broke into Goldenstein in September, but came to something of a tentative conclusion on Friday when Abbot Grasl agreed that the nuns could remain in the convent, and offered to furnish them with a full-time caregiver, an on-call doctor, and a priest to offer regular mass, per the New York Times.
But he demanded that the trio return to the discipline demanded by their religious vows, give up their popular social media activity, and stop letting laypeople onto the convent grounds.
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The dispute is ongoing, with the sisters’ legal counsel arguing that the agreement lacks legally-binding authority.
Their Instagram feed continues, and features clips like Rita, in her black and white shift, running a morning 3 kilometers after breakfast.
“These sisters are the most positive message the Catholic Church has! Commitment, dedication and character!” said one commenter on Rita’s video.
Whatever happens next in their wild journey, their physical capacities seem well maintained, and they’re a sterling example of how it’s never to late to take control of your life and stand up for yourself.
SHARE This Wild Story Of Reclaiming One’s Home Against Odds And Age…
If a doctor had determined they needed to be moved to a care home, that is one thing. But if the ‘head of their religious order’ decided their fate, that is another. Those ladies want to live, and die, in the home they have known all their lives. Their order should have provided for them, instead of kicking them to the curb when they got old.
That’s why we decided to write the story. We didn’t want to be naming anyone as a culprit, but rather to highlight their spirit – these nuns have a spirit for living!