Looking Back: The Story of Three Defiant Nuns in Austria

0:00This message comes from the Pulitzer finalist NHPR team. Their new four-part series, Safe to Drink, investigates one of the largest water contamination events in New Hampshire's history and the people who fought for answers. Follow Safe to Drink wherever you're listening. Today on State of the World, revisiting the story of three defiant nuns in Austria. You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. I'm Greg Dixon. As we say goodbye to 2025, our international reporters are looking back at some of the stories they covered in the last year.

0:40Esme Nicholson is based in Berlin. Esme, what was your most memorable story of 2025? Well, I think it has to be the defiant, rebellious Austrian nuns, all in their 80s, who, as many listeners will know, staged an escape from their care home where they say they were taken to against their will and broke back into the convent that they've spent their entire lives and have since gathered an enormous Instagram following and have sort of become novice influences, as it were. I've spent time with these sisters and they really, if I have their chutzpah in my 80s, I'll be pretty happy. They really are as charismatic as they come across on Instagram.

1:21You know, Sister Rita has a really infectious giggle that will brighten anyone's day. You know, but as I say, they're also very devout. And, you know, I think their devotion to their faith is sometimes overshadowed by all the sort of hijinks, capers that are posted on Instagram. Yeah, I love this story, Esme. So let's take a listen to it now. Here's Esme Nicholson's report on the defiant Austrian nuns from October. Morning Mass is underway at the chapel of Schloss Goldenstein, a convent nestled between the church spires of Salzburg and the arresting backdrop of the Alps. 82-year-old sister Rita is delighted to see so many people in attendance.

2:01As Catholic congregation numbers dwindle in Austria, Rita says you'd expect the church to be equally thrilled by such a full chapel. But Rita and fellow sisters Regina and Bernadette are in the local provost's bad books. She says people are calling us rebellious sisters. The three Augustinian nuns are effectively squatting in the convent that used to be their home. Rita says they were taken to a nursing home against their will two years ago when church authorities shuttered the cloisters. But the sisters have no intention of hanging up their habits. They entered the convent on the understanding that they would serve there and at the adjoining school for the rest of their lives.

2:40So in September, a group of parishioners rented a U-Haul and, with the help of a local locksmith to get inside, moved the sisters back into the convent and switched the water and electricity back on. Sister Rita says they simply had to act. I wanted to speak to the provost to tell him how unhappy we were, but we couldn't reach him. When the opportunity arose to return to our beloved convent, we didn't wait for his permission. When they broke back in, Rita, Bernadette and Regina say their rooms looked as if they'd been ransacked and that their personal belongings, including letters and photographs, were all gone.

3:17But their superior, Provost Markus Kreisel, is not pleased with the sisters' dissent. And when their getaway made headlines, he brought in a PR firm specialising in damage control. So Harald Schiffle now speaks on the clergyman's behalf.

3:34It goes without saying that the sisters were consulted before being moved into the nursing home. and it's understandable that after decades of living and working in one place, such a move is not easy. Schüffler adds that the provost was acting out of concern for the sisters and that the nearly empty convent was not suitable for their care needs in old age. But the sisters insist that they did not agree to leave. In the chapel, the pews creak as a latecomer joins the throng of worshippers eager to see the defiant nuns who've gone viral with their own Instagram account. Christina Wittenberger, one of the sister's former students who helped plot their return, says they went public on purpose.

4:18We invited the press along to prevent the provost from curfing the sisters out of the convent. I was told that he would not be so bold on camera. 65-year-old Wittenberger has known the sister since she was 10. She says that while headstrong and as sharp as ever, they're also vulnerable. When other volunteers suggested launching an Instagram account, she said only on the condition the sisters gave their express permission. 88-year-old sister Bernadette, who has been a nun here since 1955, takes social media stardom in her stride.

4:54I think it's wonderful that Instagram brings people to us to praise God. Sure, they're curious to see us after all the press coverage, but what they see is our worship. But Bernadette is still reeling about what happened. As she climbs four flights of stairs, she says the chairlift was removed from the cloister not long after her own removal. I'd been in hospital for two weeks, and when I was discharged, I thought I was returning home to the convent. But the ambulance took me to a nursing home in my nightgown. I was shocked. And that's when Sister Bernadette decided to rebel. A posse of parishioners helped the sisters leave, among them a local locksmith who broke into the shuttered convent where they had been the last three surviving nuns of an order that in its heyday was 30 sisters strong.

5:45The nun superior and provost of the local abbey, Markus Greisel, has accused the sisters of breaking their vows. But Wolfgang Rother, a priest and scholar of canon law, says this charge is often pitted at critics within the church.

6:02It's rather telling that the church reaches for the cudgel of obedience to quash dissent. But the sisters' vow of obedience refers to their obligation to listen to each other. It's not about kowtowing to the powers above.

6:19Behind closed cloister doors after Mass, Sister Bernadette brews an espresso and reflects on how happy she is to be back home with the other sisters.

6:31There is such harmony between the three of us. Of course, we all have our own personality. It wouldn't be fair on God if we were all the same. That is the beauty of our order. Every sister can be herself. Though it can, of course, be hard to be yourself when you're a nun, if Hollywood is to be believed.

6:56Back in the centre of Tauna, Mary, group of Prosecco-sipping women have launched into some Malfresco karaoke in praise of another rebellious Salzburg nun. Yes, that one, Maria von Trapp, as immortalised by Julie Andrews 60 years ago in the film The Sound of Music.

7:19By complete chance, they bump into Maria's real-life granddaughter, Elizabeth von Trapp, who, wait for it, has known Sister Bernadette for years. Not unlikely, she says, considering her family's track record with nuns.

7:41Von Trapp, who was born in the US, where her family settled after fleeing the Nazis, returns to Salzburg regularly. One summer, about a decade ago, she chanced upon the convent at Schloss Goldenstein. She says she didn't think twice about ringing the bell. Sister Bernadette answered and opened the door to me. Well, when I mentioned that my name was Elizabeth von Trapp, she put two and two together very quickly.

8:06Von Trapp, who has continued the family singing tradition, ended up giving a concert in the convent chapel. The sisters rallied around and I remember them sitting up in the choir loft. I ended up with Climb Every Mountain, which I figured was, you know, it's the nun song and the sound of music. And there they were, leaning down, so happy to hear that song. And while this sounds as far-fetched as a Hollywood producer's pitch, Nuns on the Run meets the sound of music, Von Trapp says this is no sister act, but something far more profound, pointing to the Augustinian emphasis on community. I believe Sister Bernadette has a message.

8:43It has a lot to do with how she has taken care of the community and who is now surrounding her. One of them is Karin Seidel, another former convent student. She says the sisters have devoted their lives to the community, and now it's time to give back. This is their home, and although we've organized 24-hour care starting next week, I live just three minutes away, so I'm also on hand. Surely the church is about practicing love thy neighbor, not just about preaching it. She says the sisters are as devout as they are defiant and that they deserve agency and dignity in old age. That was Esme Nicholson reporting back in October.

9:24Esme, you visited the nuns recently. How are they doing now? They're doing very well. And in fact, this time around, it was a much quieter visit. There were no other journalists jostling for the sisters. There were no influences there. There was no Hollywood scriptwriter like the one I met last time, also trying to buy the rights to their story. This time, it really was a scene of Advent, and it was much quieter, quite a tranquil scene. And in fact, the sisters have even decided to retreat from social media. Of course, as you know, they have a very, very popular Instagram account, and they've decided to retreat until further notice, actually at the request of the Vatican, which, as you also know, they've appealed to for a solution to this entire situation.

10:07But, you know, I think the sisters' albeit temporary retreat from social media is maybe something we can all emulate over the holiday period, put down our phones and maybe even just talk to each other. Not a bad idea. The story goes on. Thank you, Esme. I hope you keep us updated on this story. Thanks for having me on, Greg.

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