Vienna, April 28, (dpa/GNA) – The Vatican has appointed a mediator to resolve the dispute involving three elderly nuns from Goldenstein in Austria, over their occupancy of a local convent.
Jakob Auer, the 34-year-old chief abbot of Salzburg, has been tasked with drafting an agreement that would allow the nuns, all over 80, to remain in the convent they currently occupy, according to a statement from their supporters.
The Catholic news agency Kathpress had earlier reported on the development.
Sister Bernadette, Sister Regina and Sister Rita left a retirement home assigned to them in September and moved back into the vacant convent at Goldenstein Castle near Salzburg, Austria.
They had lived there for decades and wish to spend their twilight years there. This move triggered a conflict with the religious order’s representative, responsible for the sisters, Provost Markus Grasl.
After months of wrangling over a solution without direct communication between Grasl and the nuns, Auer was appointed as Grasl’s assistant to resolve the conflict. “Talks are now underway, and there is good hope that this can be resolved,” Grasl’s spokesperson told dpa.
Grasl had offered to allow the nuns to remain in Goldenstein. The nuns rejected the offer because, in return, he had demanded that they withdraw from social media, refrain from hiring lawyers, and decline assistance from former convent schoolgirls.
GNA