told NPR in October<\/u><\/a> 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 \u2014 something the sisters now say they did not give.<\/p>\nThe nuns distance themselves from the Instagram account<\/h3>\n 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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nInternal 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.”<\/p>\n
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\n Sisters Rita, 81, Regina (left), 86, and Bernadette (center), 88, pray at the convent chapel in September.<\/p>\n
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Despite a degree of na\u00efvet\u00e9 and lack of PR experience, the publicity strategy has always been about the sisters’ survival, Wirtenberger says.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She alleges that the provost \u2014 who assumed control of the sisters’ bank account when he removed them from the convent two years ago \u2014 also wrongfully claimed state benefits to pay for their care home.<\/p>\n
After these allegations made local headlines<\/u><\/a> last month, Schiffl, the provost’s spokesperson, confirmed to NPR that Grasl has since returned the welfare payments and insists there was no wrongdoing.<\/p>\n “The nuns’ superior submitted an application for state benefits for the sisters and it was approved,” Schiffl says. <\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Speaking to Austria’s press agency APA<\/u><\/a>, Salzburg’s district commissioner Karin Gf\u00f6llner 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.<\/p>\n Sister Bernadette says she will continue to pray for the provost while they await word from Rome.<\/p>\n
She, Sister Rita and Sister Regina have asked the Vatican to relieve the provost of his duties to their sisterly order.<\/p>\n
“We simply hope that God’s hand will guide what happens,” Sister Bernadette says.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nRaising her eyebrows, she adds: “Amen. Hallelujah.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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