Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, 89, was locked in Legal Battle over the sale of the Los Feliz convent to pop star Katy Perry. The battle had been ongoing for years, but the Catholic nun collapsed and died during court proceedings just last Friday (March 9), Fox affiliate KTTV reported. The legal dispute began a few years ago surrounding an eight-acre property which the singer wished to buy and the nuns planned to sell.

Battle for the convent

The Sisters, who are part of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary had owned the property for more than 40 years, but for the last several years have not been living there.

Those that lived in the convent, including Holzman, were intending on selling the property to restaurant owner Dana Hollister for $15.5 million, who sought to convert the convent into a hotel.

A judge handling the battle ruled the offer to sell the property to Hollister as invalid in 2016. This followed the nuns failure to get the consent of Archbishop Jose Gomez and the Vatican, who must approve the sale of any property worth over $7.5 million.

The Associated Press reported that singer Perry, known for her public feuds, intensified the battle when she put in her own offer to buy the Roman-villa style building for $14.5 million in 2015, and this bid was actually approved by the archbishop, but approval from the Vatican was still being waited on.

For now, any post-judgement proceedings have been put on hold following the nun's death.

'To Katy Perry, please stop'

Only hours before her death, she spoke to KKTV after the judge ruled Perry was free to buy the convent.

She said, “To Katy Perry, please stop. It’s not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people.” The nuns continuously reported feeling uncomfortable with the sale involving Perry throughout the dispute. Another Sister, Rita Callanan, spoke to the Los Angeles Times saying “I found her videos, I wasn’t happy with any of it.”

Archbishop Gomez, who had declined the nun's attempt to sell the property, spoke out after the battle took an emotional turn, “We extend our prayers today to the Immaculate Heart of Mary community and to all her friends and loved ones.” Following the news, the nuns set up the website @StandwiththeSisters to represent their cause with a picture of Sister Holzman featuring on the site, underneath the image is the message: "Rest with the angels our most precious treasure".

Perry has yet to comment on the events from Friday but is continuing with her music tour in upcoming months.
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