A soccer-loving Brazilian nun is believed to be the world's oldest living person at nearly 117 after the the recent death of a Japanese woman.
Inah Canabarro's sister was so tired growing up that few thought she would survive her childhood, Cleber Canabarro, her 84-year-old nephew, told The Associated Press.
LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks supercentenarians around the world, issued a statement on Saturday naming a nun in a wheelchair the world's oldest person confirmed by early life records.
In a video shot by the group last February, the smiling Canabarro can be seen cracking jokes, sharing small pictures she used to make of wildflowers and reciting the Hail Mary prayer.
Carlos Macedo/LongeviQuest, via AP
The secret to longevity? Her Catholic faith, she says.
“I am young, beautiful and friendly – all very good, positive qualities that you also have,” nun Teresian tells visitors to her retirement home in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.
Her nephew spends time with her every Saturday and sends voice messages between visits to keep her spirits up after two hospitalizations left her weak, unable to speak.
“The other sisters say she gets a smile when she hears my voice,” he says. “She's excited.”
Canabarro was born on June 8, 1908 to a large family in southern Brazil, according to LongeviQuest researchers. But her nephew said her birth was registered two weeks late and she was born on May 27. Her great-grandfather was a famous Brazilian general who raised arms during the turbulent period after Brazil's independence from Portugal in the 19th century.
She began religious work as a teenager and spent two years in Montevideo, Uruguay, before moving to Rio de Janeiro and finally settling in her home state of Rio Grande do Sul. General Joao Figueiredo, the last of the military dictators who ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985, was a lifelong teacher, among her former students. .
For her 110th birthday, she was honored by Pope Francis. She is the second oldest nun on record, after Lucille Randonwho was the oldest person in the world until she died in 2023 at the age of 118.
The local football club Inter – founded after Canabarro's birth – celebrates the birthday of its oldest fan every year. Her room is decorated with gifts in the team's red and white colors, said her nephew.
“White or black, rich or poor, whoever you are, Inter is the people's team,” she says in one video posted on social media celebrating his 116th birthday with the club president.
According to LongeviQuest, Canabarro took the title of oldest living person after the death of Japan's Tomiko Itooka in December. She is now ranked as the 20th oldest recorded person to have ever lived, a list held by French Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to LongeviQuest.
