The oldest person in the world is Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a 116-year-old nun from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, born on May 27, 1908.
In March he told ACI Digital—EWTN News’ Portuguese-language agency—that one of the secrets to his longevity is prayer: “I pray the Rosary every day for everyone in the world.”
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Sister Inah became the world’s oldest person after the death of Japanese Tomiko Itooka on December 29, 2024, who was 16 days older than Inah. The confirmation was made LongeviQuesta group of researchers specialized in mapping people over one hundred years old.
“It is a great pride for the family, the Canabarros Lucas,” his nephew Cleber Vieira Canabarro Lucas, 84, told ACI Digital on January 6.
Sister Inah currently lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, in the Santo Enrique de Ossó Shelter, which is next to the Provincial House of the Teresian Sisters of Brazil, a community in which she was accepted at the age of 19, in 1927.
According to her nephew, a few days ago Inah had some health problems, the doctors advised her to rest, but now she is fine. “It is logical that his health situation at 116 years old is already a little complicated, he no longer hears well, he has great difficulty speaking, he also sees very little, but he continues his life with the plans that God gave him,” said Cléber. “God treated well and continues to treat his disciple, Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, well.”
For Cleber, Sister Inah’s longevity is due to her spirituality, since “she was always a little nun who prayed a lot, she prayed a lot, she dedicated herself to prayer all her life.” He also spoke of other characteristics such as “his kindness in always wanting to do good for others, his good humor typical of his personality, his optimism and his determination in life.”
Inah Canabarro Lucas was born in the municipality of São Francisco de Assis, in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, on May 27, 1908, the penultimate of seven children. According to Cleber, “they were all well fed, they were normal and she was very thin, weak and her godfather, at that moment, told her father: ‘Friend, don’t get me wrong, but this girl must be sick and get ready because unfortunately she is not I think it will last a long time’… Everyone left and she is already 116 years old!”
She is the great niece of General David Canabarro, one of the main leaders of the Farroupilha Revolution (1835-1845), in Rio Grande do Sul.
When she was a child, one of her brothers told her mother that Inah could study at a nun’s school in their city. Inah then asked, “What are nuns?” The mother responded that they were women who dedicated themselves to praying to God and said: “I’m going to be a nun.”
Inah studied at a nun’s school and, at the age of 19, went to do her novitiate with the Teresian sisters in Montevideo (Uruguay).
Over more than a century it has experienced numerous changes in the world and in the Church. The nun went through two world wars and ten popes. The year of his birth, Saint Pius X was Pope.
Inah has been a teacher all her life. She taught Portuguese, mathematics, science, history, art and religion in Teresian schools in Rio de Janeiro, Itaqui and Santana do Livramento, a city in which she is very loved because it was where she spent most of her life.
A notable achievement in his life was the creation of the music band of the Santa Teresa School in Santana do Livramento. It had 115 musical instruments and traveled to performances in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. He also guided and collaborated in the creation of the also famous music band of the Liceo Pomoli, in Rivera (Uruguay), sister city of Santana do Livramento.
Sister Inah is a passionate follower of Sport Clube Internacional, a club founded in 1909, when she was one year old. Apart from saying she prays for people around the world, the only other words Sister Inah said to ACI Digital in March were praise for Inter. “Because it is the team of the people, good, poor, very honest, very good people.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in ACI Digital.
Nathália Queiroz
Nathália Queiroz de Carvalho Lima is certified in Spanish by the Cervantes Institute and has worked as a translator for seven years at ACI Digital. He has experience writing religious content for Catholic media in Portuguese and Spanish.