Katy Perry isn’t likely to attend the hearing, and neither is the pope, but they’ll be there in spirit as an archbishop and two nuns square off over who has the right to sell a Los Angeles estate worth about $15 million.
The eight acres, with panoramic views and a villa, once housed the convent for the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It could wind up as either a boutique hotel or a home for Perry, the flamboyant pop singer who rose to fame with the hit “I Kissed A Girl” and has been known to shoot whipped cream out of her brassiere.
The sisters aren’t fans -- “for what should be obvious reasons coming from Catholic nuns,” they said in a filing -- but they also have a legal beef with Archbishop Jose Gomez’s plan for Perry to buy their former home. They claim the head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles illegally amended the bylaws of the nonprofit that has title to the property in a “hostile takeover” so he could seal the deal with Perry.
For his part, Gomez cites both canon and California law as being on his side in the bid to annul the nuns’ transaction with local restaurateur Dana Hollister. She’s taken possession of the place, and has started fixing it up.
“It’s fascinating on all different levels,” said Sonia Lee, a lawyer not involved in the case. “I never thought I’d see the day when Katy Perry is in bed with the archbishop.”
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge will hear arguments today over Gomez’s request that Hollister be evicted from the property, whose main building was designed by the architect who created the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
‘Not Dumb’
The archbishop accuses Hollister of taking advantage of Sisters Rita Callanan, 77, Catherine Rose Holzma, 86, and other nuns who once lived in the villa, by giving them just a downpayment and promissory note. His lawsuit, which claims only he and the Vatican can decide the fate of the hillside estate, asks that the sale to Hollister “be declared void as a product of elder abuse.”