Nun involved in legal dispute with Katy Perry over Los Angeles convent dies
A nun who was involved in a legal case with pop star Katy Perry has died after collapsing during a court appearance.
Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, 89, had served the church “with dedication and love for many years”, Archbishop Jose Gomez said.
Sister Holzman was a member of an order of elderly nuns involved in a dispute over the sale of their convent in Los Angeles.
Hours before her death on Friday, she spoke to KTTV, decrying a judge’s ruling that cleared the way for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to sell the convent to Perry.
“To Katy Perry, please stop,” Holzman said. “It’s not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people.”
The singer sought to buy the eight-acre property and its Roman-villa style buildings for $14.5m (£10.5m). The “Roar” singer’s efforts to buy the ageing hilltop home were frustrated when the nuns tried to sell the convent to a local entrepreneur to turn into a boutique hotel, but a judge ruled in 2016 that the sale was invalid.
The Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary have owned the property for more than 40 years, but they have not lived in the convent for several years.
“I was sad to hear the news of her passing and I have offered a mass for the repose of her soul,” Archbishop Gomez said. “We extend our prayers today to the Immaculate Heart of Mary community and to all her friends and loved ones.”
Associated Press
