{"id":121788,"date":"2025-01-07T20:20:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T20:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/meet-sister-inah-lucas-the-soccer-loving-nun-who-is-now-the-oldest-person-in-the-world-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T20:20:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T20:20:39","slug":"meet-sister-inah-lucas-the-soccer-loving-nun-who-is-now-the-oldest-person-in-the-world-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/meet-sister-inah-lucas-the-soccer-loving-nun-who-is-now-the-oldest-person-in-the-world-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Sister Inah Lucas, the soccer-loving nun who is now the oldest person in the world – USA TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a week after the death of the oldest person<\/a> in the world, a nonprofit documenting the world\u2019s oldest people has welcomed the world\u2019s newest title-holder.
At 116, Inah Canabarro Lucas<\/a> is now the world\u2019s oldest person. She is also the 20th oldest person in recorded history. The woman, who is from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, was confirmed by LongeviQuest, the organization announced Saturday.\u00a0
Her confirmation comes after the death of 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka of Japan<\/a> on Dec. 29, who died from natural causes. After her death, Japan\u2019s oldest living person became 115 year-old Okagi Hayashi, who lives in the Gifu Prefecture.
Previous titleholder:<\/strong>World’s oldest woman Tomiko Itooka dies at 116, Guinness World Records announces<\/a>
Lucas celebrated her 110th birthday in 2018 and received an apostolic blessing from Pope Francis, as well as a certificate, LongeviQuest reported.
She has been recognized multiple times for her age, including:
Lucas is also the second oldest nun in documented history, coming only after Lucile Randon or Sister Andre\u0301 of France, who died in January 2023 at 118 years and 340 days old.\u00a0
According to LongeviQuest, Lucas is also the last known living person born in 1908.
Lucas was born in Sa\u0303o Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on June 8, 1908, according to LongeviQuest. The organization said her date of birth was originally reported as May 27, 1908, but researchers have found her date of birth was most likely 11 days later.
The 116-year-old had a somber beginning as she was so skinny, many people thought she wouldn’t survive childhood, LongeviQuest wrote on its website.
Lucas, who is the great-granddaughter of General David Canabarro, a Ragamuffin War leader, was 16 years old when she began studying at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul, according to LongeviQuest.
At 17 years old, she was baptized in Santana do Livramento. She later moved to Montevideo, Uruguay to be confirmed in the Catholic Church on Oct. 1 1929, at 21 years old. She returned to Brazil the next year to teach Portuguese and mathematics at a school in Tijuca, a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood, LongeviQuest reported.
She renewed her vows for the first time three years later in Rio de Janeiro, then again in 1933.\u00a0
In July 1934, at 26 years old, Lucas took her perpetual vows and officially became a nun, according to LongeviQuest. Throughout her life, she has worked as a teacher, a professor and a secretary. She retired in 1995, the organization said.
In addition to her religion, Lucas also has a passion for soccer, LongeviQuest said, calling her \u201ca devoted supporter of Sport Club Internacional.”
\u201cWhether rich or poor, it doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 it\u2019s for the people,\u201d she said in a news release on LongeviQuest\u2019s website.\u00a0
As for her living so long, Lucas said it was nothing but the Lord.
\u201cHe is the secret of life,\u201d she said. \u201cHe is the secret of everything.\u201d
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia<\/em> \u2013 the 757. Follow her on Twitter at<\/em>@SaleenMartin<\/em><\/a> or email her at<\/em>sdmartin@usatoday.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Nearly a week after the death of the oldest person in the world, a nonprofit documenting the world\u2019s oldest people has welcomed the world\u2019s newest title-holder.At 116, Inah Canabarro Lucas is now the world\u2019s oldest person. She is also the 20th oldest person in recorded history. The woman, who is from Rio Grande do Sul, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-121788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}