World’s Oldest Person, Brazilian Nun Inah Lucas, Dies at 116

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Inah Lucas, a Brazilian nun recognized earlier this year as the oldest living person in the world, has died at the age of 116, just months after receiving the global title.

Her death was confirmed on Wednesday by members of her religious order and specialists in longevity studies.

Lucas passed away in Porto Alegre, where she had spent much of her life in service to the Church. The Congregation of Teresian Sisters, to which she belonged, issued a statement honoring her for the “dedication and devotion” she showed throughout her decades of religious service.

Born on June 8, 1908, Lucas officially became the world’s oldest known living person in January, following the death of Tomiko Itooka, a 116-year-old woman from Japan.

She took religious vows in 1934, at the age of 26, during the turbulent years between the First and Second World Wars. Her long and peaceful life eventually attracted the attention of researchers and religious communities around the world.

In its tribute, longevity tracking group LongeviQuest noted that Lucas had been “a frail child at birth,” adding, “Many doubted she would survive.”

Defying expectations, Lucas—whose full name was Inah Canabarro Lucas—lived more than a century and often credited her longevity to her unshakable faith. “He is the secret of life. He is the secret of everything,” she once said, referring to God.

In 2018, as she turned 110, she received a papal blessing from Pope Francis, who himself passed away last Monday at the age of 88.

While Lucas personally claimed her birthdate as May 27, 1908, researchers determined otherwise. “Her documented birth date according to records is June 8, 1908,” said Robert Young, director at the Gerontological Research Group (GRG), in a January statement.

According to LongeviQuest, Lucas ranks as the 15th-oldest documented person in human history and the second-oldest nun ever recorded, following France’s Lucile Randon, who lived to 118 before her death in 2023.

With Lucas’s passing, the title of world’s oldest living person now goes to Ethel Caterham, a 115-year-old woman residing in Surrey, England, based on data from both GRG and LongeviQuest.

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