Katy Perry has had some fairly bad press recently.
Earlier this week, she made headlines by kissing a teenage American Idol contestant after he admitted he'd never locked lips with anyone else before. The 19-year-old later took to Instagram to say he wasn't too bothered by the experience, but admitted that he "was uncomfortable in a sense of how [he had] never been kissed before and was not expecting it."
Unfortunately, when the incident became compounded with the news that Perry had caused a bit of a stir amongst a community of nuns, people really weren't happy with her.
Last week, Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, an 89-year-old Roman Catholic, nun collapsed and died in court while fighting against the sale of her convent to Perry, who wants to re-purpose the building into a luxury home. "To Katy Perry, please stop. It’s not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people," Holzman had said earlier as she entered the courthouse.
Now, another nun from the same sisterhood, 80-year-old Sister Rita Callanan, is claiming that the court battle has left her completely penniless.
Just a few years back, the nun had thousands in the bank and believed that her funds would see her through for the rest of her days. In 2015, however, Perry put in an offer for her old convent, which is situated in the very upmarket Los Angeles suburb of Los Feliz - but the nuns had no intention of selling.
According to them, the Royal Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles (RCA) wrongfully claimed that it was under their jurisdiction to sell the building, and should not have agreed to a deal with Perry before consulting them first.
"All we are asking is to sell our own property, keep our own money so we can take care of ourselves until the last person dies, then the money and property can go to the archbishop," says Callanan. "There's not many more years, give me a break. He's supposed to be a chief shepherd."
The nuns believed that, as the property had belonged to their order for 45 years, they were the ones who had the right to sell it. They'd even found another buyer - a property developer - who would have offered more money for the convent.
"All these years of my religious life, I would never have expected to be fighting an archbishop to keep our own property and money, so we can care for ourselves," said the nun. "We don't want the archbishop handling our money."
"The archdiocese pays my rent and bills where I am - £358 for rent and £179 for a housekeeper - but the rest comes out of my stipend, which they've reduced by £538 a month," she explains.
"I have health issues, I have diabetes and breast cancer. They don't pay some of the bills on time, I said when it comes to this sort of insurance, you have to pay it. I don't know if I'm covered, I'm supposed to be, that's all I know. Sister Catherine Rose had an unpaid medicine bill for £500 then she made out a check to the pharmacy and it bounced. It's horrible.
"He is claiming he's taking care of us, that's not true. We send bills up there and they don't get paid. I get my stipend, but it's not leaving me enough for living expenses for the way the cost of living has risen."
Katy Perry has yet to comment on the most recent events of the court battle.
