Sister Christine Rod, Secretary General of the Austrian Conference of Religious Orders, has criticised the media coverage of the Goldenstein nuns who have returned to the convent from the retirement home.
"There is something tragic about the way the solution that the order has created for the deserving sisters is being portrayed," said Rod in an interview with the Salzburger Rupertusblatt. "Does it need to be staged with boxing gloves or on the wall bars? That doesn't reflect their lifestyle or their age."
Rod criticised: "We live in an age of media staging and it thrives on exaggeration, conflict and one-sidedness."
Of course, the images have great power: the three nuns would appear "exotic" to outsiders.
It is also strange "that the media public is working its way through a world that no longer really exists: Nuns in strict costumes, school dormitories and a flair of Trapp and Romy Schneider".
The nuns and their supporters have now achieved international fame.
From the BBC to CNN, international media are reporting on the conflict.
The "nuns_goldenstein" already have 25,400 followers on Instagram.
Rod: Regulation unobjectionable under canon law
Rod explained that the situation is clear in terms of canon law. If religious communities become too small or the members reach a very advanced age, the Dicastery for Religious Orders in the Vatican appoints a religious superior - either from their own religious family or from another community. In the case of the Goldenstein Sisters, this is the President of the Federation of Augustinian Choir Sisters in Germany, Sister Beate Brandt, and the Austrian Provost Markus Grasl, who was appointed as the superior of the order.
Rod explained that Grasl was on site for one day every week during the transition phase.
On a human and emotional level, it was a question of age-appropriate care - just like in any family. Due to her advanced age and state of health, living independently in the monastery was no longer possible, says Rod: "As the specially employed assistance was no longer sufficient, we needed to take a further step."
In the Hallein Franciscan Sisters' home, professional care and the opportunity to continue their spiritual and religious life were guaranteed.
However, according to the ORF report (Tuesday), the three nuns have officially deregistered from the home.
Supporters are now looking after the care and living costs of the elderly sisters.
Harald Schiffl, spokesman for Reichersberg Abbey, which is responsible for the women, emphasised: "If the sisters have an accident in the home, then those who brought them back to the home are now responsible."
Places in the home are still available.
When asked how things can now continue, Rod admitted: "We don't know at the moment. As long as the situation is so heated, there will probably be no joint solution." If they could talk to each other again, perhaps a new attempt would be possible.