Plans are for the Capuchin monastery to establish restaurants, offices, an ethical campus of the University of St. Gallen, medical offices and cultural spaces.
Newsroom (01/09/2022 9:15 AM, Gaudium Press) Sister Scholastica Schwizer has lived in Wonnenstein for 58 years. She is the last survivor of the Franciscan community established since the 17th century in Rotbach.
“Physically, I am the only sister here. But since the monastery was established, 490 sisters have lived here. With them, I form a strong community of spirit,” retorts Sister Scholastica, who refuses to leave the Wonnenstein convent.
In 2013, the bishop of St. Gallen contacted the community and proposed the creation of an independent association to help the elderly religious women run the monastery. In 2014, the ownership of the monastery thus became a civil law association ‘Kloster Maria Rosengarten Wonnenstein’ in order to ensure the maintenance of the monastery’s infrastructure and the upkeep of the last religious women.
Wonnenstein is to remain a center of habitation, activity, and spirituality. The association plans for this site to establish restaurants, offices, a campus of the University of St. Gallen, medical offices, and cultural spaces. Initially, the church will be renovated, and work has already begun.
The last nun
After the death of the superior in 2020, the bishop and the association pressured Sister Scholastica to leave the monastery. But she resists, because she sees in these plans the selling of Wonnenstein’s history. She feels robbed and betrayed.
In December 2020, the nun contracted covid and had to be hospitalized and admitted to a rehabilitation center. There, she received a phone call from the bishop, asking “where I wanted to go after my release.” In effect, the bishop wanted her to look for an institution to care for her. But the sister didn’t care about that: “I want to go home,” she replied.
Appeal to the Holy See
In the meantime, Sister Scholastica hired a lawyer and sued the association. In April 2022, she sent an appeal to the Holy See, denouncing the illicit secularization of the monastery by transforming it into a private association.
On August 19, Rome gave its verdict. The Diocese of St. Gallen and the association acted entirely legally and in accordance with canon law. At the time, the religious in question made decisions together in chapter assemblies. They were well informed and would have understood the consequences of their decisions. The question of the association’s property is also correctly settled. There is no “confusion of financial interests of the executive committee or its members regarding the convent’s property and real estate.”
With information from cath.ch.
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
