According to Swiss media reports, the district court of Appenzell (canton of Inerrhoden) dismissed the nun's application on Tuesday.
The amount in question is 55,000 francs as well as interest of 35,000 francs that has accrued since then.
In addition, the court ordered the nun to transfer the old-age and survivors' insurance pension she had previously received to the association with retroactive effect from March 2022 and to continue to do so in future.
The judgement is not yet final.
According to media reports, the presiding judge came to the conclusion that there was a so-called "usufruct" in the case in question. "It is your property, but it will remain reserved for as long as you live in the convent," he said to the nun. She also has no authority to decide how the assets are invested. "However, you can leave the convent at any time and your assets will be returned to you."
Concern about provision in old age
The dispute between Sister Maria Scholastika (80) and the supporting organisation Kloster Maria Rosengarten Wonnenstein has been simmering for several years. She is the only nun still living in the convent. She does not want to leave it, as she has not yet received a firm guarantee for a life outside the convent.
In order to be able to provide for herself in old age, she wants to access her private assets again, which she brought with her when she joined in 1964 and whose management was thus transferred to the convent.
In 2014, the association took over the convent; at that time, the management of the sisters' private assets was also transferred to the association as legal successor. The majority of the association is now run by old men from a student fraternity. It plans to turn the convent into a centre for living, commercial work and spirituality.
Sister Scholastika and her lawyer doubt that the renunciation of the assets will continue to be valid under the new legal entity. She is also receiving support from an interest group, which has sharply criticised the actions of the sponsoring association.
At the same time, the sponsoring association claims that it has created reserves for Sister Maria Scholastika's retirement provision. In 2022, the sister lodged a complaint with the Vatican, but was not listened to.
Instead, she was asked by the Bishop of St Gallen and the Roman Congregation of Religious to join a new community, as she alone no longer formed a community in the monastic sense.
Nevertheless, she continues to live in the monastery.
Formally, her superior is the superior of the Swiss Federation of St Clare.