According to LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks supercentenarians around the globe, Sister Inah Canabarro is the world’s oldest person. Their declaration is validated by early life records. The nun, who is bound to a wheelchair, was crowned the world’s oldest living person after Tomiko Itooka died in Japan at age 116 on Dec. 26, 2024.
Her nephew spends time with her every Saturday. He also sends her voice messages between visits to keep her in good spirits after the elderly woman had two hospitalizations. He stated “The other sisters say she gets a jolt when she hears my voice. She gets excited!” Sister Inah Canabarro was born into a large family in southern Brazil, on June 8, 1908.
According to her family, her birth was registered two weeks late, and she was born on May 27, 1908. As a teen, she became a nun and initially spent two years in Montevideo, Uruguay. She eventually moved to Rio de Janeiro and eventually settled in her home state of Rio Grande do Sul. Along with a deep commitment to faith lifelong faith, she is devoted to the local soccer club Inter.
The club was founded after she was born and celebrates her birthday every year as the oldest fan. Her room is decorated with club memorabilia. Several years ago, she was honored by Pope Francis on her 110th birthday. She is the second oldest nun in history. Sister Lucile Randon was the world’s oldest person until she died in 2023 at age 118.
In the over one hundred years she has served the catholic church, massive changes have rocked the institution. Pope Francis has been particularly controversial. As we reported last year, Pope Francis has been the subject of intense backlash following controversial remarks made during a three-day visit to Singapore. The Catholic leader claimed that “all religions are a path to God.” Francis made the remarks during an inter-religious meeting with a group at a Catholic junior college.
“If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t,’ where will that lead us?” he asked, before adding, “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].” Bishop Joseph Strickland called out Pope Francis, urging Christians to pray for him to see the truth that Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation. “Please pray for Pope Francis to clearly state that Jesus Christ is the only Way. To deny this is to deny Him. If we deny Christ, He will deny us, He cannot deny Himself,” Strickland said.
“Pope Francis is not acknowledging the truth or evangelizing others. Only one path to God the Father is through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ! Otherwise, the church has been duping us forever. Come Holy Spirit and guide us. Jesus have mercy on us,” another person commented, echoing the same sentiment. However, the Pope remained resolute and refused to take back his comments.
“You see tragedies, but you also see so many beautiful things,” the Pontiff said. “You see heroic mothers, heroic men, men who have hopes and dreams, women who look to the future. That gives me a lot of hope. People want to live. People forge ahead. And people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”