Nun aged 116 becomes the world’s oldest person alive

A Brazilian nun, Inah Canabarro Lucas, has been named the world’s oldest person at 116 years and 210 days old.

She took the title after the death of the previous world’s oldest person, Tomiko Itooka. Tomiko passed away at her nursing home in Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, on the night of December 29, 2024, although her death wasn’t confirmed until today.

Inah, a Brazilian born on June 8, 1908, in São Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, is not only the oldest living person but also the world’s oldest nun.

When she was a child, she was so frail that many believed she wouldn’t survive to adulthood.

Her religious journey began at the age of 16 when she attended the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento from December 27, 1928.

She later moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she took her vows as a nun on July 27, 1934.

In 1930, Inah returned to Brazil and became a teacher of Portuguese and mathematics at a school in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro.

Her teaching career took her to various locations, and in 1980, she took a position at the Provincial House in Porto Alegre.

In 2018, Inah was honored on her 118th birthday, receiving an apostolic blessing from Pope Francis.

She is also known as the second oldest living nun, following the death of Lucile Randon (Sister André), who was the world’s oldest person at 118