Sister Rita Callanan and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman have requested for a temporary restraining order against the sale of their estate to famous singer Katy Perry.
The nuns, who were from the Immaculate Heart of Mary order, declared that selling the property to the “Roar” singer would violate their canonical vows to the Catholic church because of her “public image.”
Katy Perry to buy convent? Nun so fast! http://t.co/1D1PKTYD4R pic.twitter.com/u2i68p5Gox
— SpyHollywood (@TheSpyHollywood) July 5, 2015
When Archbishop José H. Gomez first informed the nuns about the plan to sell the 8-acre lot in September 2014 for $14.5 million, he said that the buyer’s name was Katherine Hudson.
How do you solve a problem like @KatyPerry? http://t.co/5WlZayq9nL pic.twitter.com/xswjcigtdP — VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 20, 2015
However, when the nuns learned of Ms. Hudson’s stage name and public persona, they decided to push through with their prior arrangement with restauranteur Dana Hollister and sell the land their convent was built upon for $15.5 million.
According to the nuns, the deal would be far more beneficial as the estate is worth 1 million dollars more than the deal with Perry, which was enough to see the five sisters of the order through their retirement.
But Archbishop Gomez stated that a sale to the restaurant owner was unauthorized.
What the secular press misses in its coverage of legal battle over convent sold to Katy Perry http://t.co/62q2Ml9dOb pic.twitter.com/5hGXUZc5GV
— America Magazine (@americamag) July 20, 2015
The archbishop also declined to gather the sisters to finalize the deal with Hollister and instead plans to push through a transaction with Katy Perry.
On the contrary, the nuns declared that they have full authority over the villa-style property on top of a hill in Los Feliz, which they acquired through a non-profit many years ago.
Though the archbishop has obtained declarations of support from three of the five sisters, namely: Sister Jean-Marie Dunne, Sister Marie Victoriano, and Sister Marie Christine Munoz Lopez; Sister Callanan and Sister Holzman were doubtful of how Gomez acquired the papers.
The two nuns argued that Sister Dunne was against the sale even though she signed her declaration and Sister Lopez appeared to have taken morphine and was light-headed when she signed her statement.
Nevertheless, the judge who is in charge of the legal dispute has asked the nuns to sort out the matter with the Los Angeles archdiocese before taking harsh legal steps.
