Elderly nuns escape nursing home for their former convent

Three elderly nuns, with the help of some of their former students and a local locksmith, recently made a break from the nursing home they were living in and returned to their formerly abandoned convent -- and are documenting everything on social media.

Sister Regina, 86, Sister Rita, 81, and Sister Bernadette, 88, are the last three members of their religious order. Until December 2023, the women resided at Schloss Goldenstein, their convent near Salzburg, Austria, said the BBC.

The building was taken over the year before by the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Reichersberg Abbey, an Augustinian community, said the BBC. The abbey's provost, Provost Markus Grasl, was named as the nuns' superior. The school located at the convent is still in operation.

While the sisters' community was dissolved, they were granted "lifelong right of residence" at the Schloss Goldenstein, as long as they were physically and mentally capable of independent living.

In December 2023, a decision was made that the three sisters would move to a nursing home near the convent. They did not want to go, said the BBC. The three sisters had lived in the convent for the majority of their lives.

"We weren't asked," Sister Bernadette said. "We had the right to stay here until the end of our lives and that was broken."

In September, the sisters decided that enough was enough and that they were tired of living at the nursing home. They enlisted the help of some of their former students and made a break for their old home.

"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," she added.

"Before I die in that old people's home, I would rather go to a meadow and enter eternity that way," said Sister Bernadette.

When the three arrived at the convent, they needed a locksmith to get into their old quarters. They found that the building no longer had electricity or running water. The services have since been partially restored.

They are supplied with food and groceries from their supporters, said the BBC, and they are regularly visited by people, including former students.

Grasl, however, was not happy the nuns returned, saying it was "completely incomprehensible" and that the nuns were not able to safely live by themselves.

"The rooms in the convent are no longer usable and in no way meet the requirements for proper care," he said.

The three sisters have taken to Instagram to share their stories and to keep people updated on their lives. Since their account was created, they have amassed more than 15,000 followers.

They have also adapted one of their old traditions to the modern age. Back when there were more sisters at the convent, they would each be assigned a student to pray for each day, said one of the posts.

Now, instead of students, the sisters have new "children" to pray for: their followers.

"Now they consider all of their followers to be their prayer children and pray for the whole world several times a day," said the Instagram post.