Sisters Regina, Bernadette and Rita rejoice Mass on the convent chapel of the Goldenstein citadel, within the municipality of Elsbethen, south of the town of Salzburg, Austria, on Sept. 20.
Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
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Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
SALZBURG, Austria — Morning Mass is underway on 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 individuals in attendance.
As Catholic congregation numbers dwindle in Austria, Sister Rita says you’d count on the church to be equally thrilled by such tightly packed pews, however 82-year-old Rita and fellow Sisters Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, are of their superior’s dangerous books.
“Individuals are calling us the rebellious sisters!” Rita says with a giggle and a glint in her eye.
The three Augustinian sisters — who use solely their non secular names — lately ran away from a nursing house and, with the assistance of a neighborhood locksmith, broke again into the convent that was their house. Rita jokes that they’re octogenarian squatters.
Sister Bernadette, 88, walks again to the convent chapel of the Goldenstein citadel, within the municipality of Elsbethen, south of Salzburg metropolis, Austria, on Sept. 20.
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Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Giggles apart, Rita says they have been taken to a nursing house against their will two years in the past when church authorities shuttered the cloisters as nun numbers diminished.
“When the chance arose to return to our beloved convent, we did not look forward to his permission”
The parishioners who employed a U-Haul and helped the sisters stage their getaway are actually joined by an entire host of locals keen to assist the sisters develop previous on their very own phrases.
Sister Rita says they merely needed to act. “I wished to talk to the prelate to inform him how sad we have been however we could not attain him,” she explains. “When the chance arose to return to our beloved convent, we did not look forward to his permission. However I do not need him to be indignant with us.”
Sister Rita poses for a portrait.
Esme Nicholson for NPR
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Esme Nicholson for NPR
However their superior, Provost Markus Grasl, shouldn’t be happy with the sisters’ dissent. And when their getaway made headlines final month, he introduced in a PR agency specializing in harm management. So Harald Schiffl now speaks on the clergyman’s behalf.
“It goes with out saying that the sisters have been consulted earlier than being moved into the nursing house,” Schiffl says. “And it is comprehensible that after a long time of dwelling and dealing in a single place, such a transfer shouldn’t be simple.”
Schiffl explains that Sisters Rita, Bernadette and Regina have been the final three remaining nuns within the cloister and that staying there was unwise as they aged. He stresses that the provost’s resolution to maneuver them was made with their greatest pursuits in thoughts.
However the sisters don’t have any intention of hanging up their wimples; they entered the cloister on the understanding they’d serve there — and on the adjoining convent faculty — for the remainder of their lives.
And their attain now goes far past the parish; the nuns now have their own Instagram account, presently with 70,000 followers.
Schiffl, the provost’s spokesperson, says the nuns’ social media presence is unbecoming of their order and that their superiors take a dim view of it.
“With out all of the media curiosity, a viable and sustainable resolution would have been discovered way back, inflicting far much less harm to the church,” Schiffl asserts.
Sister Bernadette, 88, celebrates Mass on the convent chapel of the Goldenstein citadel, within the municipality of Elsbethen, south of Salzburg metropolis, Austria, on Sept. 20.
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Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
However Christina Wirtenberger, one of many sisters’ former college students who initiated “operation get thee to a nunnery,” says they have been suggested to make it public.
“We invited the press alongside to stop the provost from turfing the sisters out of the convent,” Wirtenberger says. “I used to be advised that he wouldn’t be so daring in entrance of the press.”
Sixty-five-year-old Wirtenberger has identified the sisters since she was 10 years previous. She says that whereas they’re as headstrong and sharp as ever, they’re additionally susceptible on account of their age.
When different volunteers urged launching the Instagram account, Wirtenberger mentioned solely on the proviso the sisters gave their specific permission.
Eighty-eight-year-old Sister Bernadette, who has been a nun right here since 1955, takes social media stardom in her stride.
“I feel it is fantastic that Instagram brings individuals to us to reward God. Positive, they’re curious to see us after all of the press protection, however what they see is our worship,” Bernadette enthuses. “So heaven makes use of tech to unfold the phrase? God organized this, not us!”
Sister Bernadette poses for a portrait on Oct. 11.
Esme Nicholson for NPR
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Esme Nicholson for NPR
However Bernadette continues to be reeling about what occurred. As she climbs 4 flights of stairs, she says the stair raise was faraway from the cloister not lengthy after her personal removing.
“I might been in hospital for 2 weeks and, after I was discharged, I believed I used to be returning house to the convent,” Sister Bernadette explains. “However the ambulance took me to a nursing house in my nightgown. I used to be shocked. The provost got here however did not converse to me. I referred to as after him, saying I’d solely be obedient for per week.”
They’re accused of breaking their vows
By means of his spokesperson, Provost Grasl has accused the sisters of breaking their vows. However Wolfgang Rothe — a priest and scholar of canon legislation — says this cost is commonly pitted at critics inside the church.
“It is somewhat telling that the church reaches for the cudgel of obedience to quash dissent,” Rothe says. “However the sisters’ vow of obedience refers to their obligation to pay attention to one another. It isn’t about kowtowing to the powers above.”
Sisters Rita, 81, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, rejoice Mass with over a dozen of supporters and former college students.
Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
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Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Rothe, who sits on a German Bishops’ Conference advisory board that advocates for the victims of sexual violence and abuse within the Catholic Church, says involving the media is the one method to safeguard the susceptible.
“The church authorities concern the media just like the satan fears holy water as a result of they’d somewhat maintain hidden what’s going on behind closed doorways,” Rothe says.
Behind closed cloister doorways after Mass, Sister Bernadette brews an espresso and displays on what it means to be house with Sisters Regina and Rita.
“There may be such concord between the three of us. After all, all of us have our personal character! It would not be truthful on God if we have been all the identical,” she says. “That’s the fantastic thing about our order; each sister could be herself.”
Sisters Rita (proper), 81, Regina (left), 86, and Bernadette (middle), 88, rejoice a Mass with over a dozen of supporters and former college students.
Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
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Joe Klamar/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Nuns on the Run meets The Sound of Music
All of it sounds somewhat acquainted in Salzburg, the place dissenting nuns with character are a specialty. Within the middle of city, a merry group of prosecco-sipping ladies have launched into some al fresco karaoke in reward of one other rebellious nun — Maria von Trapp, immortalized because the nun who “waltzes on her way to Mass” by Julie Andrews within the 1965 movie The Sound of Music.
By full likelihood, they stumble upon the one-time nun Maria’s real-life granddaughter, Elisabeth von Trapp. Von Trapp has identified Sister Bernadette for years, which she says is hardly a shock contemplating her household’s monitor document with nuns.
Von Trapp, who was born in america the place her household settled after fleeing the Nazis, returns to Salzburg usually. One summer season, a few decade in the past, she chanced upon the convent at Schloss Goldenstein. She says she did not assume twice about ringing the bell.
“When Sister Bernadette answered and opened the door to me, I discussed that my identify was Elisabeth von Trapp. She put two and two collectively in a short time,” says von Trapp. “However this is the factor: All of it’s linked.”
Von Trapp, who has continued the household singing custom, ended up giving a live performance within the convent chapel.
“The sisters rallied round and I bear in mind them sitting up within the choir loft,” von Trapp remembers. “I ended up with ‘Climb Each Mountain,’ which I figured was, you understand, it is the nuns tune in The Sound of Music. And there they have been leaning down, so completely happy to listen to that tune!”
And whereas this sounds as far-fetched as a Hollywood producer’s pitch — Nuns on the Run meets The Sound of Music — von Trapp says that is no Sister Act however one thing much more profound, declaring the Augustinian emphasis on neighborhood.
Elisabeth von Trapp is the granddaughter of Maria von Trapp, whose story impressed The Sound of Music.
Hannelore Kirchner/By way of Elisabeth von Trapp
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