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Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian Catholic nun widely celebrated as the world’s oldest living person, passed away peacefully on May 1, 2025, at the age of 116. Her remarkable life, marked by devotion, simplicity, and an enduring love for football, came to an end in Porto Alegre at the religious home of the Teresian Sisters, the community she had belonged to for nearly a century.
Born on June 8, 1908, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Sister Inah’s early years unfolded in a Brazil that was still shaping its identity as a young republic. Her religious calling began early; she entered a Catholic boarding school at 16 and took her vows in her early twenties. Over the years, she became a respected educator, teaching Portuguese and mathematics in Rio de Janeiro after returning from a brief period living in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Her longevity became the subject of admiration and curiosity, particularly after she was officially recognized as the oldest living person in January 2025, following the death of Japan’s Tomiko Itooka. Though Sister Inah lived a quiet, disciplined life, her story captured hearts far beyond Brazil, in part due to her unshakable faith and warmth.
According to Sister Rita Fernandes Barbosa, coordinator at the Teresian residence where Sister Inah lived out her final years, the nun had never undergone any surgery until a cataract procedure at the age of 106. She maintained relatively good health throughout her life. “Her body simply started slowing down,” said her nephew, who noted that she suffered no major illness.
Family members recalled that she maintained a strict daily routine even in her final years. “She liked to get up, eat, pray, and sleep at the same time each day,” they shared. Despite diminished hearing and eyesight, Sister Inah remained cheerful and content. Fellow nun Sister Terezinha Aragon described her as “grateful and good-humoured,” never one to complain.
What endeared her even more to the public was her undying passion for Sport Club Internacional, a football club based in Porto Alegre. Sister Inah was known to celebrate her birthdays with cakes shaped like the team’s stadium. She owned several club shirts, proudly wore the team’s scarf on her 116th birthday, and even had pillows emblazoned with the club’s crest. Internacional paid tribute to her on social media, expressing “enormous sadness” at her passing and honouring her life of kindness, faith, and loyalty.
Pope Francis personally blessed Sister Inah in 2018, a moment her family described as one of the high points of her later years. She often credited her long life to her faith. “He [God] is the secret to life,” she once said.
With her passing, the title of the world’s oldest living person now passes to 115-year-old Ethel Caterham of Surrey, England. But for many in Brazil and around the world, Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas leaves behind not just a record of longevity, but a legacy of grace, service, and unwavering joy in the simplest of things—faith, routine, and football.
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