Katy Perry faces two-year delay in buying former convent from nuns

Nuns and archbishop in Los Angeles are in dispute over ownership of eight-acre property

Katy Perry has been warned that she faces a lengthy delay in her bid to buy a former convent in Los Angeles, which she hopes to turn into a family home.

A complicated dispute has arisen over the ownership of the eight-acre property. Perry thought that she would be able to buy the former convent from the archdiocese of Los Angeles, run by Archbishop Jose Gomez, for $14.5 million (£9.3 million). But the five nuns who live in the property say that Perry would be an unsuitable owner and want to sell it to businesswoman Dana Hollister instead.

In an initial ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court judge James Chalfant has deferred a decision on who owns the property where the five nuns of The Sisters Of The Most Holy And Immaculate Heart Of The Blessed Virgin Mary reside. Judge Chalfant told the archdiocese’s lawyers: “You’re not selling to Katy Perry any time soon,” adding that he believed the ownership dispute could take two years to resolve.

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The convent used to house over 100 nuns, but now just five nuns aged 77 to 88 live at the secluded hilltop estate. Perry has said that she would turn the convent into a family property where she would live with her mother, Mary Perry, and grandmother, Ann Hudson.

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But one of the nuns, Sister Rita Callanan, told The Los Angeles Times: “I found Katy Perry’s videos. I wasn’t happy with any of it.”

Property developer Hollister thought that she had persuaded the nuns to sell the convent to her. Archbishop Gomez protested, saying that Hollister had “taken advantage” of the nuns. Judge Chalfant said: “There is no doubt in my mind that the sale to defendant Hollister was improper and invalid.” The next hearing is scheduled for September.

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