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Original poster

Defiant nuns flee care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps

134 replies

IwantToRetire · 13/09/2025 19:15

Three Austrian nuns in their 80s have run away from the retirement 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.

continues at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y8r2gk0vyo

The Nun's Liberation Movement !!

Three nuns stand in front of the monastery in their habits, with Sister Rita on the left and Sister Regina in the centre both wearing glasses

Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps

Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita needed a locksmith to get back into their convent, defying Church leaders.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y8r2gk0vyo

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Original poster
IwantToRetire · 12/04/2026 21:40

Related - I listened to the radio play based on a true story of Nuns in Belgium who sold their Covent and moved to the South of France.

Well there's more to it than that. Script by Amelia Bullmore

In case anyone is interested its available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002tzfc

Drama on 4 - A Broken Order - BBC Sounds

As the bishop moves to close their convent, the nuns decide to take control.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002tzfc

OP posts:
TempestTost · 04/04/2026 03:14

IwantToRetire · 04/04/2026 01:22

That they are able to live the last years of their life confident that they have been give the right to continue to live in the building of their former convent.

At the moment it is still hanging over them that they might be forcible evicted. And made to live in some "care home" which they dont want to do.

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It really makes no sense to deliberately make things take longer to wait for them to die so as not to have to give a final answer, when it will take the same amount of time for them to die if they stay with an answer. That would be a weird approach.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 04/04/2026 01:22

TempestTost · 03/04/2026 22:18

I mean - they are all going to die before long, so that will happen one way or another.

I'm not sure what other scenario you are envisioning.

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That they are able to live the last years of their life confident that they have been give the right to continue to live in the building of their former convent.

At the moment it is still hanging over them that they might be forcible evicted. And made to live in some "care home" which they dont want to do.

OP posts:
TempestTost · 03/04/2026 22:18

inaminn · 03/04/2026 21:17

I hope the church decision makers are not stringing this out forever in the hope that nature takes over the life span of the nuns and the church gets its castle back to make some money.

I am also hoping that Pope Leo can get stuck in and find a way to knock a few heads together and acknowledge the agency of these women in deciding on their futures.

I mean - they are all going to die before long, so that will happen one way or another.

I'm not sure what other scenario you are envisioning.

inaminn · 03/04/2026 21:17

I hope the church decision makers are not stringing this out forever in the hope that nature takes over the life span of the nuns and the church gets its castle back to make some money.

I am also hoping that Pope Leo can get stuck in and find a way to knock a few heads together and acknowledge the agency of these women in deciding on their futures.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 03/04/2026 21:13

Had forgotten there is a new Pope.

Might be easier for him to "break the rules".

I was just glad to know they were still there and had survived the winter!

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Overtheatlantic · 03/04/2026 21:01

I hope the Pope does right by them; he seems a decent and compassionate man.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 03/04/2026 20:58

Seems promising.

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SaratogaFilly · 29/11/2025 16:05

Well done them! Hope they don’t agree to the conditions ascribed as I wouldn’t trust the church to renege once again!

NeverDropYourMooncup · 29/11/2025 13:15

justasking111 · 28/11/2025 19:36

Looks like they're not allowed any contact with the outside world either just a priest. I'd refuse.

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Absolutely, The moment they gave up their connection to the outside world, they'd be forcibly moved again with no way of seeking support.

Walkerzoo · 29/11/2025 08:50

Amazing. Well done to them.

SidewaysOtter · 28/11/2025 20:00

If that’s what they want then all power to their be-habited elbows.

justasking111 · 28/11/2025 19:36

IwantToRetire · 28/11/2025 18:04

I nearly made a new thread about this it is so exciting.

Older women fight back and win.

Who cares about giving up social media.

All their new fans can post info!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l9z176lnlo

(Have just seen they haven't agreed to the conditions!)

Looks like they're not allowed any contact with the outside world either just a priest. I'd refuse.

Daleksatemyshed · 28/11/2025 18:18

This is great, the power of social media has saved them

inaminn · 28/11/2025 18:16

Toddlerteaplease · 28/11/2025 18:11

They took a vow of obedience though. So they really should comply!

Many priests took a vow of chastity too, and look what that led to.

This is an amazing story, and how typical that male dominated decisions were taken on their behalf, because it's good for the church's coffers them.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 28/11/2025 18:14

Toddlerteaplease · 28/11/2025 18:11

They took a vow of obedience though. So they really should comply!

Well yes, but ... they have shown by standing up to the patriarchal church they have had a victory.

So why not carry on the good fight?!

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 28/11/2025 18:11

They took a vow of obedience though. So they really should comply!

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 28/11/2025 18:04

I nearly made a new thread about this it is so exciting.

Older women fight back and win.

Who cares about giving up social media.

All their new fans can post info!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l9z176lnlo

(Have just seen they haven't agreed to the conditions!)

Three nuns stand in front of the monastery in their habits, with Sister Rita on the left and Sister Regina in the centre both wearing glasses

Austrian nuns win reprieve in abandoned convent - if they stay off social media

The three nuns say they were taken out of the convent against their will and placed in a care home.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l9z176lnlo

OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 15/09/2025 22:25

NotAtMyAge · 15/09/2025 17:50

That's my understanding. The school was a boarding school, so in many ways acted like an enclosed community. As far as I know, the few remaining Catholic schools attached to monastic communities in the UK are boarding schools, e.g Ampleforth.

Edited
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Only in the last five years or so as the various orders have aged out and the Archdioceses have taken control. Some still continue their other work, such as overseas education, albeit largely with sisters from the countries they went to, particularly following Vatican II.

TempestTost · 15/09/2025 19:36

Anglicans btw have the same distinction, but I don't think the Orthodox do in the same way.

TempestTost · 15/09/2025 19:32

As far as nuns vs sisters go, it is often the case that the media has a poor grasp of the differernce and uses the wrong terms.

I also am not sure if the same division of terms exists in German?

I think the Augustinians use both terms depending on the order and its work, it is one of the largest groups of monastics of all types.

ForestAtTheSea · 15/09/2025 18:30

The boarding school is still there. That's what they said in the statement by the church. They emphasize this as that's what apparently had been a strong wish of the sisters, their school being continued, and that they fulfilled this wish. Now the arch diocese of Salzburg is responsible for it.

Background of the building - only in German, just put it into a translator:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Goldenstein

The overarching congregation they belong to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonesses_of_Saint-Augustin_of_the_Notre-Dame_Congregation

The German wiki entry explains that the specific religious order the nuns belong to is very small, with the nearest other group being in the middle of Germany. The greater community is a bit larger, though.

Those who now administrate their order were chosen also by the nuns, years ago (from the church statement) and are a (spiritually) related group, together with the leader of the German "mother" order.
The connections between the orders seem a bit like branches from a tree, so that some sub-groups are now very small, as the women grow older.

NotAtMyAge · 15/09/2025 17:50

IwantToRetire · 15/09/2025 17:11

Well that's what the explanation I read said, but it seems to me the Nuns in this story were acting more like Sisters.

Or is the difference pupils coming to a convent to be educated, as opposed to a Sister going out to teach at a local school?

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That's my understanding. The school was a boarding school, so in many ways acted like an enclosed community. As far as I know, the few remaining Catholic schools attached to monastic communities in the UK are boarding schools, e.g Ampleforth.

NotAtMyAge · 15/09/2025 17:47

LaundryGarden · 15/09/2025 17:08

This. So the women in nursing and teaching orders are sisters, whereas Poor Clares are nuns.

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Exactly.