Three nuns have taken a stand against church authorities by orchestrating their own escape from a care facility and returning to the convent they were compelled to vacate.
Sisters Bernadette, 88, Regina, 86, and Rita, 82, had all taught at the convent and girls’ school for more than six decades.
But they were evicted when it was taken over and closed by an Augustinian monastery – despite being promised lifelong residency.
The tale, reminiscent of a Hollywood movie, involves former students aiding the nuns in departing their designated Catholic retirement home to re-enter the castle.
With the assistance of a locksmith, the nuns managed to access their previous living quarters at the Kloster Goldenstein school and convent located in Elsbethen, near Salzburg, Austria.
They unpacked their few possessions and settled back in. And, although they initially had no water or power, both have now been partly restored.
Their daring adventure unfolds amid the picturesque Alpine setting showcased in The Sound of Music, which famously opens with nuns singing at Salzburg’s Nonnberg Abbey, a mere five miles from Elsbethen.
Although not the exact storyline of the 1990 comedy Nuns On The Run—where Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle portray frustrated gangsters dressed as nuns to escape a harsh leader—their saga has inevitably drawn parallels.
Regina, 86, Rita, 81, and Bernadette, 88, are pictured sitting on a bench as they reclaim their former Goldenstein convent in Goldenstein castle, near Salzburg, steadfast in their refusal to return to their retirement home in Elsbethen, Austria, on September 12, 2025.
The sisters had all taught at the convent and girls’ school for more than six decades
They were evicted from their old Goldstein convent when it was taken over and closed by an Augustinian monastery – despite being promised lifelong residency. Pictured: A view of Goldenstein castle near Salzburg
In 2022, the convent building was taken over by the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Reichersberg Abbey. Provost Markus Grasl became the nuns’ superior.
The octogenarians were the last three nuns to occupy the convent before being removed against their will in December 2023.
One of their fellow conspirators, former student Sophie Tauscher, said: ‘Goldenstein without the nuns is just not possible.
‘When they need us, they just have to call us and we will be there, for sure. The nuns here changed so many lives in such a good way.’
Since the sisters’ return two weeks ago, supporters have been bringing them groceries and doctors have carried out health checks.
Provost Grasl said the nuns’ decision to return to the convent was ‘completely incomprehensible’.
He added their rooms in the convent were no longer usable and failed to ‘meet the requirements for proper care’.
He said the retirement home had provided ‘absolutely essential, professional, and good medical care’ while the sisters’ wish to keep the convent school open had been honoured.
The trio were the last three nuns to occupy the convent before being removed against their will in December 2023
A group of former students have helped them leave their appointed Catholic retirement home to return to the castle
The nuns are unrepentant. ‘I am so pleased to be home,’ said Sister Rita. ‘I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back.’
‘We weren’t asked,’ added Sister Bernadette. ‘We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken… Before I die in that old people’s home, I would rather go to a meadow and enter eternity that way.’
