Katy Perry's attempt to purchase an old convent being blocked by elderly nuns
A strange real estate saga is unfolding in Los Angeles, featuring a restaurateur and nightlife doyenne, six nuns, and Katy Perry.
The Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary purchased an eight-acre property in Los Feliz in 1972, and now that they all live in retirement homes, they want to sell the convent and live off of the proceeds. The nuns closed a deal with restaurant owner Dana Hollister for $15.5 million, but the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said they acted too quickly, and it's not actually their property to sell. Sister Catherine Rose, 86, disagrees. "We have control of our property, it's ours," she told ABC Los Angeles. "The archdiocese is not taking care of us, we've been taking care of ourselves."
The archdiocese claims the Immaculate Heart of Mary Institute is ultimately governed by the Holy See, and is trying to void the sale and evict Hollister. This is the part where Perry comes in — the archdiocese claims the singer has offered a better deal that will be more beneficial to the nuns. Sister Catherine Rose said all of the nuns met with Perry, but aren't fans of her songs and don't want to see her turning the convent into Our Lady of the Whipped Cream Shooting Bras. "She answered nicely but her answers were not what we were looking for," Sister Catherine Rose said. The first hearing in the civil suit will take place July 9.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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