The oldest man in the world, Brazilian well-aged Ina Canabajo Lucas, passed away yesterday, Wednesday, at the age of 116, the community of Therese sisters’ convents, to whose ranks she belonged and lived, in the city of Porto Alegre, announced.

Born on June 8, 1908, Ina Kanabaho Lucas had been recognized as the oldest member of humanity since the January death in Japan of Tomiko Itoka, also at 116, according to the U.S. Gerontological Research Corporation (GRC) and LongeviQuest.

Her monastic order expressed gratitude for the “devotion and loyalty” that characterised her life, while LongeviQuest, in a related feature, revealed that Ina was a fragile child and many doubted whether she would survive her early years. She attributed her longevity to God, saying, “He is the secret of life. He is the secret of everything.”

Ina Canabaro became a nun in 1934, at the age of 26, between the two World Wars. For her 110th birthday, she had received a special blessing from Pope Francis, who passed away just last Monday at the age of 88.

Although she claimed to have been born on May 27, 1908, official records confirm her birth date as June 8, 1908, according to GRG director Robert Young.

According to LongeviQuest, Canabaro was the 15th oldest documented woman in history and the second oldest nun, after Lucille Randon of France, who died in 2023 at the age of 118.

After her death, the title of oldest living woman passes to Ethel Caterham, a resident of Surrey, England, who is now 115 years old.