AUSTRIAN NUNS REFUSE CHURCH DEMAND TO ABANDON SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER RETURNING TO BELOVED CONVENT

Three Austrian nuns in their 80s have refused to sign an agreement demanding they abandon social media after breaking back into their former convent following an escape from a Catholic care home where they say they were placed against their will.

Sister Bernadette, 88, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Rita, 82, are the last nuns at Kloster Goldenstein convent in Elsbethen, just outside Salzburg, where they spent decades living and teaching at the convent's private girls' school.

The sisters were removed from the convent in December 2023 and placed in a Catholic nursing home, though they insist the move was involuntary. In September 2025, with help from former students and a locksmith, they returned to their beloved convent.

Provost Markus Grasl from Reichersberg Abbey, their religious superior, offered to allow them to remain at the convent under strict conditions including ceasing all social media activity, cutting off contact with press and legal representation, and restricting access to the convent's cloistered areas.

The nuns have amassed almost 100,000 followers on Instagram and several thousand on Facebook, posting about their daily lives, prayer routines, Sister Rita's boxing workouts, and their determination to remain in their home until death.

Their lawyer Reinhard Bruzek called the proposal a "gag order," while supporters said the conditions had "no legal basis" and would deprive the sisters of "their only remaining protection from the interested public."

In a statement issued on their behalf, the nuns said they were open to an agreement in principle but found the current offer unacceptable, calling it a contract with "the character of a gagging contract."

Sister Bernadette first entered the convent as a teenager in 1948, studying alongside future film star Romy Schneider. Sister Regina arrived in 1958 and later became headmistress of the school. Sister Rita entered in 1962. All three served as teachers for many years.

The nuns were promised lifelong right of residence at the convent as long as their health and mental capacity allowed. Their removal to the care home sparked widespread backlash, with former students organizing round the clock care, installing chairlifts, and raising funds to support the sisters.

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

The sisters say their Instagram account brings people to God. "I think it's wonderful that Instagram brings people to us to praise God," Sister Bernadette said. "Sure, they're curious to see us after all the press coverage, but what they see is our worship. So heaven uses tech to spread the word? God arranged this, not us!"

THE CRUSADER'S OPINION

Three nuns in their 80s escaped a nursing home, broke into their convent, started an Instagram account, and now refuse to be silenced.

The Church removed them from their home against their will.

Promised lifelong residence, then broke that promise.

Put them in a nursing home in their nightgowns without warning.

Now demands they shut down social media that reaches 100,000 people as condition for staying.

Sister Bernadette is right.

God is using Instagram to bring people to worship.

One hundred thousand followers see nuns at prayer, Sister Rita boxing, and women who devoted their entire lives to Christ refusing to be warehoused.

That is evangelism.

That is witness.

That is exactly what threatens institutional control.

The Provost wants silence.

The nuns want to praise God publicly.

Guess which one honors Christ?

These women entered religious life as teenagers, taught generations of students, and poured themselves out in service for over 60 years.

They earned the right to die where they lived.

Instead, Church authorities want them medicated, silent, and compliant.

The sisters chose defiance.

Good for them.

TAKE ACTION

1. Support the Austrian nuns by following their Instagram account to encourage their ministry reaching 100,000 people with witness of faithful devotion. Show church authorities that silencing these sisters harms evangelistic outreach, not helps it.
2. Contact Reichersberg Abbey demanding Provost Markus Grasl honor the nuns' lifelong right of residence without gagging conditions. Email or call pressing for agreement respecting sisters' dignity and allowing continued public witness through social media.
3. Donate to the nuns' care fund organized by former students providing round the clock medical support, chairlifts, and supplies enabling sisters to remain at Kloster Goldenstein. Contact supporters through the nuns' social media channels.
4. Pray for Sisters Bernadette, Regina, and Rita as they face pressure from church authorities to abandon ministry reaching thousands. Pray for strength, health, and protection from forced removal to nursing facilities against their will.
5. Raise awareness about elderly religious being removed from convents and monasteries against their will. Share the Austrian nuns' story exposing institutional prioritization of property control over honoring lifelong vows and promises.
6. Support elder care reform in religious communities ensuring aging nuns and monks receive dignified care in their homes rather than forced institutional placement. Advocate for policies protecting religious from involuntary removal violating promised lifelong residence rights.