SALZBURG, Austria — Set against snow-capped Alpine peaks, the convent chapel at Schloss Goldenstein is candlelit and set for Advent.
In early December, the mood was contemplative, a sharp contrast to the hubbub here earlier this year.
On this occasion, there were no jostling journalists, no opportunistic influencers and no sign of the Hollywood scriptwriter looking to buy the rights to a story that has resonated around the world. Just three octogenarian nuns sitting in quiet prayer.
As of this week, the sisters say they are retreating from social media until further notice. In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Sisters Rita, Regina and Bernadette said they were responding to a request from the Vatican to "spend Advent and Christmas in inner peace and reflection."
This is just how NPR found the sisters as Advent got underway.
But 88-year-old Sister Bernadette said the ritual recitation in early December was not as peaceful as it looked. Peering over her spectacles with raised eyebrows, she explained that one prayer was proving particularly arduous.
"We continue to pray for the provost," Sister Bernadette declared. "In fact, we prayed for him with every rosary for six weeks nonstop, but it got so exhausting we decided to save our litany for him for weekly Mass."
The provost in their prayers is Markus Grasl, the nuns' superior at the local abbey. He accused the sisters of breaking their vows when, in September, they broke back into their convent — with Austria's biggest tabloid in tow. The sisters had fled a care home they say the provost had sent them to against their will.
Initially unhappy about the nuns' refusal to remain in the care home, Grasl agreed last month to let them stay at the convent — but only "until further notice" and only if they gave up social media, stopped talking to the press and ceased seeking legal advice.
The nuns turned down his offer in early December, calling it a gag order. Starting Wednesday, though, they acquiesced to the Vatican's request, made last week, to take a break until further notice.
Both parties have appealed to the Vatican to resolve the situation. Vatican authorities have informed the sisters that they are working on finding a "just and humane, and sustainable solution." The Vatican did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
Complications surrounding the nuns' social media presence
While they wait, the sisters get on with their daily lives, which revolve around the liturgy, even if their increasingly popular Instagram account suggests otherwise.
While a growing flock of more than 280,000 Instagram followers appreciate posts showing the sisters' high jinks and capers — such as Sister Rita's boxing sessions — the provost's spokesperson, Harald Schiffl, is less enthusiastic.
"The sisters' social media presence has very little to do with real religious life," Schiffl told NPR. "And this is why the abbey wishes to discontinue their Instagram account."
When asked whether she's happy in the limelight, 82-year-old Sister Rita shrugged and smiled. "The boxing sessions were fun," she said. "I'm not sure they needed posting on Instagram, but if our followers enjoy seeing me box, then so be it!"
Sister Bernadette insists that their social media presence was never intended to be about them: "Our Instagram account lets us spread the word and help a new generation find Jesus in their hearts."
But as she takes a newly reinstalled stair lift up the convent's precipitous spiral staircase, Sister Bernadette remarks that becoming novice influencers has been a steep learning curve. Not least because the volunteers helping the sisters are in disagreement over how to do social media.
Christina Wirtenberger, one of the nuns' former students now supporting them, told NPR in October that when other volunteers suggested launching the Instagram account, she said it should be only on the condition that the sisters gave their express permission to publish each post — something the sisters now say they did not give.
The nuns distance themselves from the Instagram account
In a statement released on Wednesday, the nuns claim that none of the posts and comments published to the @nonnen_goldenstein Instagram account were "brought to our attention beforehand" or "subsequently approved by us." They also state that should the account continue to be active during their announced pause from social media, "it is expressly against our will."
However, the Instagram account, run from the beginning by one volunteer, is still publishing posts, even addressing the sisters' decision to step back from Instagram and refuting their accusation that they knew nothing of what was posted.
Internal disputes aside, the nuns also expressed in the statement their "heartfelt gratitude" to their social media followers in recent months, adding that "without the support of the media, we would have been defenseless and helpless against the ruthlessness and arbitrariness of our superior."
Despite a degree of naïveté and lack of PR experience, the publicity strategy has always been about the sisters' survival, Wirtenberger says.
She says the nuns have become unnecessarily dependent on donations. "The sisters no longer have any access to their pensions, which are being paid every month into their savings account which is now administered solely by Provost Markus Grasl at the abbey," Wirtenberger says.
She alleges that the provost — who assumed control of the sisters' bank account when he removed them from the convent two years ago — also wrongfully claimed state benefits to pay for their care home.
After these allegations made local headlines last month, Schiffl, the provost's spokesperson, confirmed to NPR that Grasl has since returned the welfare payments and insists there was no wrongdoing.
"The nuns' superior submitted an application for state benefits for the sisters and it was approved," Schiffl says.
"But the authorities changed their minds," he says, about the nuns' eligibility for state funding. "It was a completely normal process and the matter has been resolved."
Speaking to Austria's press agency APA, Salzburg's district commissioner Karin Gföllner explained the provost had not provided full details of the sisters' financial situation. As soon as the authorities were in full possession of the facts, they stopped paying the benefits.
Sister Bernadette says she will continue to pray for the provost while they await word from Rome.
She, Sister Rita and Sister Regina have asked the Vatican to relieve the provost of his duties to their sisterly order.
"We simply hope that God's hand will guide what happens," Sister Bernadette says.
Raising her eyebrows, she adds: "Amen. Hallelujah."
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