A dispute between three elderly nuns who fled a retirement home to return to their abandoned convent has escalated with Roman Catholic authorities.
On Friday, the sisters rejected an offer from church officials to stay in the nunnery “until further notice,” on the condition that they and their carers stay off social media.
Christina Wirtenberger, a spokeswoman for the rebel sisters, Bernadette, 88; Regina, 86; and Rita, 82, said they decided not to sign the agreement because it would deprive them of the protection of an interested public.
Sisters act
The three were the last nuns in residence at the Goldenstein Castle convent.
Two years ago, when the abbot shut down their living quarters in the abbey, they were moved to a retirement home.
They say it was against their will, but church officials deny this.
In September, they ran away from the care home and returned to the abandoned convent near Salzburg in Austria.
Since then, they have documented daily life and have built up a loyal following on Instagram.
Provost Markus Grasl of Reichersberg Abbey then said the nuns should be placed back in a Catholic care home due to their ailing health and accused them of breaking their vows of obedience.
Why did the nuns reject the Church’s offer?
On Friday, church officials, relented and said the sisters could stay at Goldenstein “until further notice.”
Under the plan, they would have had to meet several conditions to remain at the convent.
These included the “immediate cessation… of all social media activities” and contact with the media. Furthermore, the nuns must “dismiss lawyers and legal experts working for them with immediate effect.”
Church officials also said the sisters would be provided medical care as well as spiritual support from a priest. But if their health worsens and they “can no longer be looked after” appropriately in the convent, they will have to move to a nearby care home, they added.
The Church’s promise that the sisters could remain in the convent near Salzburg if they accepted the conditions was only “until further notice” and legally worthless, their spokeswoman said.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
