Forget her feud with Taylor Swift; pop singer Katy Perry is now set for a legal battle with a group of nuns.
Perry recently bought a former convent from Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez for $14.5 million, and the surviving sisters at Immaculate Heart of Mary are nun too pleased.
The sisters claim they had already accepted an offer from a local restaurant owner named Dana Hollister to buy the property for $1 million more than Perry had offered, and the right to sell the property belongs to them, not Gomez.
The Los Angeles Times reports the sisters recently sold the land for $15.5 million to Hollister, before the archdiocese could complete its deal with Perry, which is now attempting to block the sale with legal action, and is having some success.
The 8-acre piece of real estate has been assessed at $13 million, and offers striking views of both downtown L.A. and the San Gabriel Mountains.
Perry reportedly went all in for the property, and even tried to make a good impression on the nuns at a meeting, where she dressed conservatively and sang “Oh Happy Day” for them. She also reportedly showed them her Jesus tattoo.
The sisters were not impressed, and are now ready to fight both her and Gomez in court.
All parties seem ready to fight and Hollister is now the subject of legal action. Additionally, Perry has been given a court order to visit the property with an architect.
Sister Catherine Rose told the LA Times 52 Immaculate Heart sisters lived on the property at one point, but the diocese moved the last of them to other locations against their will in 2011.
The nuns used their own money to buy the property decades ago at a discount from a benefactor, and they fear their living expenses will not be covered.
“We have given many years to this archdiocese and we have served them well,” Sister Rita Callahan told the paper. For the archdiocese to … put us under a bus and run over us, I’m sorry, it was just too much for me.”
Archdiocese spokeswoman Monica Valencia told TODAY Monday, “We have already entered and accepted the offer from Miss Perry… The Archbishop has made a promise to care for the sisters, and we want to do what’s best for them.”
Sister Callahan also told the show, “God help us, we are going to fight this!”