Superstar Katy Perry is now one step closer to owning a former Catholic convent in Los Feliz, California, after a judge invalidated an earlier deal that was made between a group of nuns and restaurateur Dana Hollister.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick deemed that only the archdiocese had the power to sell the property, not the nuns of the Institute for the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The nuns had owned the property, which was given to them by a devout parishioner, for forty years and sold it to Hollister without Archbishop Jose H. Gomez’s permission.
The archbishop wanted to sell the villa-style convent to Perry for $14.5 million, while the nuns tried to sell it to Hollister for for $15.5 million. The archdiocese believed Hollister’s offer to be a fraud, but the nuns preferred to sell to Hollister over Perry. The archdiocese then took the case to court, claiming the the nuns’ sale of the convent was unauthorized.
After today’s court decision, Perry will now be able to purchase the eight-acre property. The Vatican would just need to approve the bid.
