World of the Bizarre

Nuns on the run: three sisters flee from care home to remote convent

By T.K. Randall
September 14, 2025 ·  4 comments

Image: Schloss Goldenstein
Credit: Ricardalovesmonuments / CC BY 4.0 (adapted) In what sounds like it could be the plot of a whimsical family movie, three elderly nuns who had been forced into a care home against their will have taken a stand against church authorities by fleeing back to an abandoned convent in the Alps.

Sister Bernadette, 88, Sister Regina, 86, and Sister Rita, 82, managed to regain entry to the Kloster Goldenstein convent in Elsbethen near Salzburg with the help of former students and a locksmith.

According to reports, the nuns had been removed from the convent in 2023 against their will and taken to the care home where it was expected they would remain for the rest of their lives.

In a daring move, however, the defiant trio managed to escape and return to their former abode.

They are now the only three nuns living at the convent."I am so pleased to be home," said Sister Rita.

"I was always homesick at the care home. I am so happy and thankful to be back."

The nuns had spent almost their entire lives at the convent which has also served as a private school for girls since 1877. One of the three even went to school there herself when she was a child.

Not surprisingly, officials are not too happy with the nuns.

According to Provost Markus Grasl, the building is no longer able to sustain independent living, especially for three nuns in their 80s with various health needs.

He described their decision to return there as "incomprehensible".

Source: BBC News | Comments (4)

Tags: Nuns