A legal dispute over the sale of a multi-million-pound convent in Los Angeles – involving pop star Katy Perry, a group of elderly nuns, a businesswoman and an archbishop – could take years to resolve, a judge has warned.
At a hearing, Superior Court Judge James Chalfant made a preliminary ruling that the sale of the Roman-style villa to businesswoman Dana Hollister by the nuns was void. But he also decided that representatives for Los Angeles’ Catholic archbishop, Jose Gomez, who wants to sell the building to Perry for $14.5m (£9.3m), and Perry would not be allowed to gain access to the convent.
At least two of the five nuns are opposed to the singer buying the convent, partly because they watched some of her music videos and were unhappy with what they saw. Her songs include “I Kissed a Girl”, “Ur So Gay “and “Legendary Lovers”.
In an effort to prevent her from buying the building, the nuns hurriedly agreed to sell it to Ms Hollister in June for $15.5m (£9.9m), with $5.5m (£3.5m) dedicated to relocating a prayer house.
But Judge Chalfant said there was “no doubt in my mind the sale to defendant Hollister was improper and invalid”.
He ordered Ms Hollister to start paying $25,000 (£16,000) a month to support the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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However, if Perry and the archbishop sensed victory, the judge had disappointing news. “You’re not selling to Katy Perry any time soon,” he told the archbishop’s lawyers. It would take months and possibly years to resolve the dispute, he warned.
Perry, who would also relocate the prayer room, wants to turn the convent into a private home; Ms Hollister was planning a boutique hotel and restaurant.
The archdiocese and nuns both agree that the property, which was bestowed to the sisters by a Catholic who wanted them to keep him in their prayers, should be sold. But the two sides are fighting over the control of the sale’s proceeds and whether Perry or Ms Hollister are suitable buyers. The judge ruled that church law governed the sale of the convent, not civil law. He ordered Ms Hollister to remove any armed guards from the property and he set a hearing for 15 September to decide whether she will be able to retain possession.
Archdiocese lawyers want Ms Hollister removed and said that Perry had agreed to pay rent on the convent while the case is in the courts. A lawyer for the sisters argued it was unfair to use canon law to decide the issue.
The judge said that the nuns had not properly followed procedures when they agreed to sell the convent to Ms Hollister. “This is a problem for the sisters because they don’t trust the archdiocese,” Judge Chalfant said.
Additional reporting by AP
