Nuns Regina, 86, Rita, 81, and Bernadette, 88, are occupying their old convent. Angelika Warmuth/Reuters

Three octogenarian nuns have defied their diocese, run away from their nursing home and returned to their former convent in Salzburg , Austria , which they are now occupying.

On September 4, Sister Regina, 86, Sister Rita, 81, and Sister Bernadette, 88, returned to Schloss Goldenstein, the Alpine convent and girls’ school where they had spent most of their lives — much to the displeasure of the local church.

On arrival, the nuns found that their former residence no longer had electricity or running water, so their supporters brought them water and emergency generators, CNN affiliate ORF reported .

The sisters’ former students have been helping and organizing a daily routin

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