Meet the Austrian nuns who fled a care home to break into their old convent
toggle caption Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images
SALZBURG, Austria — Morning Mass is underway at the chapel of Schloss Goldenstein, a convent in Elsbethen, an Austrian parish nestled between the church spires of Salzburg and the arresting backdrop of the Alps. Sister Rita is delighted to see so many people in attendance.
As Catholic congregation numbers dwindle in Austria, Sister Rita says you'd expect the church to be equally thrilled by such tightly packed pews, but 82-year-old Rita and fellow Sisters Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, are in their superior's bad books.
"People are calling us the rebellious sisters!" Rita says with a giggle and a glint in her eye.
Sponsor Message
The three Augustinian sisters — who use only their religious names — recently ran away from a nursing home and, with the help of a local locksmith, broke back into the convent that used to be their home. Rita jokes that they are octogenarian squatters.
toggle caption Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images
Giggles aside, Rita says they were taken to a nursing home against their will two years ago when church authorities shuttered the cloisters as nun numbers diminished.
"When the opportunity arose to return to our beloved convent, we didn't
Continue Reading on NPR
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.