AILSA CHANG, HOST:
In Austria, three nuns, all in their 80s, recently ran away from a nursing home. They broke into their former convent in defiance of church orders, determined to grow old on their own terms. These sisters are now taking Instagram by storm, and they're being supported by a growing community. In the first of two stories, Esme Nicholson reports from Salzburg.
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ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: 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. Eighty-two-year-old Sister Rita is delighted to see so many people in attendance.
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NICHOLSON: As 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.
RITA: (Speaking German).
NICHOLSON: She says, "people are calling us rebellious sisters."
RITA: (Laughter).
NICHOLSON: 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. So 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.
RITA: (Through interpreter) 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.
NICHOLSON: 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. But their superior, Provost Markus Grasl, is not pleased with the sisters' dissent. And when their getaway made headlines, he brought in a PR firm specializing in damage control. So Harald Schiffl now speaks on the clergyman's behalf.
HARALD SCHIFFL: (Through interpreter) It 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.
NICHOLSON: Schiffl 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.
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NICHOLSON: In the chapel, the pews creak as a latecomer joins a throng of worshippers eager to see the defiant nuns who've gone viral with their own Instagram account. Christina Wirtenberger, one of the sisters' former students who helped plot their return, says they went public on purpose.
CHRISTINA WIRTENBERGER: (Through interpreter) We invited the press along to prevent the provost from turfing the sisters out of the convent. I was told that he would not be so bold on camera.
NICHOLSON: Sixty-five-year-old Wirtenberger has known the sisters 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. Eighty-eight-year-old Sister Bernadette, who has been a nun here since 1955, takes social media stardom in her stride.
BERNADETTE: (Through interpreter) I 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.
NICHOLSON: But Bernadette is still reeling about what happened. As she climbs four flights of stairs, she says the chair lift was removed from the cloister not long after her own removal.
BERNADETTE: (Through interpreter) 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.
NICHOLSON: And that's when Sister Bernadette decided to rebel. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Salzburg.
CHANG: Now, if the story of disobedient Salzburg nuns ring a bell, tune in again tomorrow for Part 2 of this story. We'll hear from a friend of Sister Bernadette, the granddaughter of Maria von Trapp - yes, that Maria von Trapp - the onetime nun immortalized in Technicolor by Julie Andrews in the film, "The Sound Of Music."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE SOUND OF MUSIC")
JULIE ANDREWS: (As Maria von Trapp, singing) The hills are alive with the sound of music with songs they have sung for 1,000 years. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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