JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
We are heading back to Austria for Part 2 of our report on three octogenarian nuns. They recently broke into their former convent after running away from a nursing home. In yesterday's report, the nuns spoke of why they had no choice other than to disobey their superior. Esme Nicholson reports from Salzburg.
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ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: Previously on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, NPR met Sisters Rita, Regina and Bernadette, all of them in their 80s and all thrilled to be back in cloisters after they say church authorities sent them to a nursing home against their will, as recalled by 88-year-old Bernadette.
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.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
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NICHOLSON: A posse of parishioners helped the sisters leave, among them, a local locksmith who broke into the shuttered convent where they had been the last three surviving nuns of an order that, in its heyday, was 30-sisters strong. The nuns' superior and provost of the local abbey, Markus Grasl, has accused the sisters of breaking their vows. But Wolfgang Rothe, a priest and scholar of canon law, says this charge is often pitted at critics within the church.
WOLFGANG ROTHE: (Through interpreter) It's rather telling that the church reaches for the cudgel of obedience to quash dissent. But the sisters' vow of obedience refers to their obligation to listen to each other. It's not about kowtowing to the powers above.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).
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NICHOLSON: Behind closed cloister doors after Mass, Sister Bernadette brews an espresso and reflects on how happy she is to be back home with the other sisters.
BERNADETTE: (Through interpreter) There is such harmony between the three of us. Of course, we all have our own personality. It wouldn't be fair on God if we were all the same. That is the beauty of our order. Every sister can be herself.
NICHOLSON: Though it can, of course, be hard to be yourself when you're a nun if Hollywood is to be believed.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA")
ELISABETH VON TRAPP AND UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
NICHOLSON: Back in the center of town, a merry group of prosecco-sipping women have launched into some al fresco karaoke in praise of another rebellious Salzburg nun. Yes - that one - Maria von Trapp, as immortalized by Julie Andrews 60 years ago in the film, "The Sound Of Music."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA")
VON TRAPP AND UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) So do you make her stay and listen to all you say?
NICHOLSON: By complete chance, they bump into Maria's real-life granddaughter, Elisabeth von Trapp, who - wait for it - has known Sister Bernadette for years. Not unlikely, she says, considering her family's track record with nuns.
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VON TRAPP AND UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Moonbeam in your hand.
(CHEERING)
NICHOLSON: Von Trapp, who was born in the U.S., where her family settled after fleeing the Nazis, returns to Salzburg regularly. One summer about a decade ago, she chanced upon the convent at Schloss Goldenstein. She says she didn't think twice about ringing the bell.
ELISABETH VON TRAPP: Sister Bernadette answered and opened the door to me. Well, when I mentioned that my name was Elisabeth von Trapp, she put two and two together very quickly.
(Singing in non-English language).
NICHOLSON: Von Trapp, who has continued the family singing tradition, ended up giving a concert in the convent chapel.
VON TRAPP: The sisters rallied around, and I remember them sitting up in the choir loft. I ended up with "Climb Every Mountain," which I figured was, you know, it's the nun song in "The Sound Of Music." And there they were, leaning down, so happy to hear that song.
NICHOLSON: And while this sounds as far-fetched as a Hollywood producer's pitch - "Nuns On The Run" meets "The Sound Of Music." Von Trapp says this is no "Sister Act" but something far more profound, pointing to the Augustinian emphasis on community.
VON TRAPP: I believe Sister Bernadette has a message. It has a lot to do with how she has taken care of the community and who is now surrounding her.
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NICHOLSON: One of them is Karin Seidl, another former convent student. She says the sisters have devoted their lives to the community, and now it's time to give back.
KARIN SEIDL: (Through interpreter) This is their home. And although we've organized 24-hour care starting next week, I live just three minutes away, so I'm also on hand. Surely, the church is about practicing love thy neighbor, not just about preaching it.
NICHOLSON: She says the sisters are as devout as they are defiant and that they deserve agency and dignity in old age. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Salzburg.
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EURYTHMICS AND ARETHA FRANKLIN: (Singing) Sisters are doin' it for themselves, standin' on their own two feet and ringin' on their own bells. Sisters are doin' it for themselves. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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