Runaway Nuns Escape Nursing Home to Return to Their Beloved Convent
Sister Rita, 82, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Bernadette, 88, returned to their convent. AFP via Getty Images
Three elderly Austrian nuns — beloved online by tens of thousands of followers — made a daring escape from their nursing home to return to the convent they called home for decades.
Sister Rita, 82, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Bernadette, 88, who share an Instagram account with more than 78,000 followers, fled their care facility earlier this year to return to Schloss Goldenstein, a historic convent near Salzburg. The trio had been moved to the nursing home in December 2023 when church officials shut down their convent due to dwindling numbers in the sisterhood.
“We weren’t asked,” Sister Bernadette told the BBC. “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.”
With help from a former student and a local locksmith, the sisters quietly slipped away and returned to their beloved home — much to the frustration of their supervisor, Provost Markus Grasl of Reichersberg Abbey.
“I wanted to speak to the prelate to tell him how unhappy we were, but we couldn’t reach him,” Sister Rita told NPR. “When the opportunity arose to return to our beloved convent, we didn’t wait for his permission. But I don’t want him to be angry with us.”
Provost Grasl said the decision to relocate the women had been made out of concern for their health. “Their precarious health conditions meant that independent living at Goldenstein Convent was no longer possible,” he said through his representative, Harald Schiffl, who was brought on to manage the growing media attention.
“It goes without saying that the sisters were consulted before being moved into the nursing home,” Schiffl told NPR. “And it’s understandable that after decades of living and working in one place, such a move is not easy.”
Schiffl added that since the women were the last remaining nuns in the convent, the move had been made in their best interest — though their continued presence on social media, he said, wasn’t ideal.
The sisters, however, say their online following has been a blessing. “I think it’s wonderful that Instagram brings people to us to praise God,” Sister Bernadette said. “Sure, they’re curious after all the press coverage, but what they see is our worship. Heaven uses tech to spread the word? God arranged this, not us!”
When the trio returned to Schloss Goldenstein — a former castle that also serves as a private school where all three once taught — they found the building without electricity, running water, or working locks. Still, support quickly poured in from former students and locals.
“When they need us, they just have to call, and we’ll be there,” said former student Sophie Tauscher. “The nuns here changed so many lives in such a good way.”
Despite the challenges, the runaway sisters seem content to have found their way home — back to faith, friendship, and the quiet halls of the convent they never wanted to leave.
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