Meet the Austrian nuns who fled a care home to break into their old convent

"SALZBURG, Austria Morning Mass is underway at 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 people in attendance. As Catholic congregation numbers dwindle in Austria, Sister Rita says you'd expect the church to be equally thrilled by such tightly packed pews, but 82-year-old Rita and fellow Sisters Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, are in their superior's bad books."

"The three Augustinian sisters who use only their religious names recently ran away from a nursing home and, with the help of a local locksmith, broke back into the convent that used to be their home. Rita jokes that they are octogenarian squatters. Giggles aside, Rita says they were taken to a nursing home against their will two years ago when church authorities shuttered the cloisters as nun numbers diminished."

"The parishioners who hired a U-Haul and helped the sisters stage their getaway are now joined by a whole host of locals eager to help the sisters grow old on their own terms. Sister Rita says they simply had to act. "I wanted to speak to the prelate to tell him how unhappy we were but we couldn't reach him," she explains. "When the opportunity arose to return to our beloved convent, we didn't wait for his permission."

Morning Mass is underway at the chapel of Schloss Goldenstein, a convent in Elsbethen near Salzburg, with tightly packed pews despite dwindling Catholic congregations in Austria. Sisters Rita (82), Regina (86) and Bernadette (88) recently escaped a nursing home and, with a locksmith's help, broke back into their former convent. Parishioners hired a U-Haul and locals rallied to help the sisters remain in the convent and age on their own terms. The sisters were moved to a nursing home two years earlier after cloisters were shuttered due to declining nun numbers. Provost Markus Grasl is displeased and hired a PR firm to respond.

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