Sawt Falasteen - Rebel nuns win reprieve in Austrian convent dispute

The story of runaway sisters Rita, 82, Regina, 86, and Bernadette, 88, defying the church hierarchy made headlines across the globe.

The trio ran away from the care home the Catholic Church sent them to "against their will" and broke back into their abandoned convent at Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen near the city of Salzburg in September, with the help of supporters.

The nuns' superior, Provost Markus Grasl of Reichersberg Abbey, repeatedly insisted the nuns be placed in a Catholic care home due to their ailing health and accused them of breaking their vows of obedience.

But on Friday church officials said the nuns could stay at Goldenstein "until further notice", adding that Grasl had put forward a proposal to resolve the dispute.

The proposal, seen by AFP, listed several conditions for the nuns to stay at the convent.

It called for the "immediate cessation... of all social media activities" and contact with the media. Furthermore, the nuns must "dismiss lawyers and legal experts working for them with immediate effect".

Officials said they would provide medical care and nursing help for the nuns as well as spiritual support from a priest.

But if their health deteriorates and they "can no longer be looked after" appropriately in the convent, they will have to move to a nearby care home, they added.

"This is a unilateral proposal that... has not been discussed with the sisters... or with their helpers," their supporters said in a press release late on Friday, branding it another attempt by church hierarchy to "bamboozle" the nuns.

"All three sisters have unanimously decided not to sign this agreement for legal reasons," said the nuns' spokeswoman Christina Wirtenberger, according to Austrian press agency APA.

Grasl recently paid back around 64,000 euros ($74,000) in social welfare benefits he had received for the trio, according to local media.

The nuns have welcomed numerous supporters to the convent since their return. Videos of their daily lives have also attracted tens of thousands of followers on Instagram.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST