Speaking on the podcast Dunkelkammer, Sister Bernadette (88) said Thursday that her social media helper had published content without consulting them - "he made that easy."
On the Instagram account "nonnen_goldenstein" about 280,000 people had recently followed the fate of the three nuns, who have been fighting back since the summer of 2025 against the move to a retirement home.
There you can see short videos from the everyday life of the senior women in the occupied monastery.
Sister Bernadette now says she had "no idea" what was happening on the social media profile. Initially, the monastic life was portrayed there by a helper "very, very nice and honest", but later the project was "spread out".
The religious woman reports on contributions with advertising character. For example, advertising for mineral water and rosaries was made. Bernadette said, “Our order is not responsible for money-making.”
The task of the community is to be there for children and to convey religious education, "but never money supplies".
Behind the posts, the sister suspects monetary interests. The operator of the account rejected this accusation in the past and emphasized that he wanted to help the sisters with his commitment.
Distancing from Instagram
In December, the nuns surprisingly distanced themselves from the successful account. Despite the request to stop the activities, pictures and videos of the sisters will continue to be published there.
According to Bernadette, these recordings were made secretly and without her consent.
Now they are considering legal action.
Meanwhile, other supporters of the women run a new account called "realnonnengoldenstein."
There, for example, church services are broadcast. "This is our mission and otherwise nothing, no money-making and no business-making," says Sister Bernadette. "It's so disgusting to us what happened there."
The fate of the Goldenstein nuns, all three over 80 years old, had made international headlines in the summer of 2025.
At the beginning of September, they had returned from a retirement home to their former monastery against the will of their superior.
Since 2022, the building has been owned by equal parts of the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Reichersberg Abbey.
The sisters say they were originally promised to stay in life, but after hospitalizations, they had to move to a home at the end of 2023.