VOA新闻杂志2025--Brazilian Nun Is World's Oldest Person at 116

Sister Inah Canabarro was born in 1908. She was six years old when The First World War began in 1914.

The soccer-loving nun¹ from Brazil is believed to be the world's oldest living person at 116 years old.

LongeviQuest is an organization that keeps records of people over 110 years old around the world. It released a statement on Saturday saying that Canabarro is the world's oldest person having proof of early life records.

LongeviQuest filmed a video of Canabarro last February. Canabarro can be seen smiling, making jokes and sharing small paintings she used to make of wildflowers. The video also shows her saying a Catholic² prayer called the Hail³ Mary.

"I'm young, pretty and friendly - all very good, positive qualities that you have too," the nun told visitors to her retirement⁴ home in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

Canabarro says the secret to her long life is her Catholic religious belief.

Cleber Canabarro is her 84-year-old nephew. He told The Associated Press that Sister Inah was so thin during childhood that many people worried that she would not live to be an adult.

Her nephew spends time with her every Saturday. He has been sending her voice messages between visits to help her feel better following two visits to the hospital that left her weak, with difficulty talking.

"The other sisters say she gets a jolt⁵ when she hears my voice," he said. "She gets excited."

LongeviQuest researchers say Canabarro was born on June 8, 1908, to a large family in southern Brazil. But her nephew said her birth was registered two weeks late and she was actually born on May 27.

She started religious work when she was a teenager. She spent two years in Montevideo, Uruguay, before moving to Rio de Janeiro. She later settled in her home state of Rio Grande do Sul. Canabarro taught school for most of her life. One of her students was General João Figueiredo, a military leader and politician who served as the 30th president of Brazil from 1979 to 1985.

Sister Inah also started two marching bands at schools in two cities sharing the border between Uruguay and Brazil.

Pope⁶ Francis honored Canabarro for her 110th birthday. She is the second-oldest nun ever known, after Lucile Randon of France, who was the world's oldest person until her death in 2023 at the age of 118.

The local soccer club where Canabarro lives is named Inter⁷. The club celebrates the birthday of its oldest fan every year. Her room is decorated with gifts in the team's red and white colors, her nephew said.

"White or black, rich or poor, whoever you are, Inter is the team of the people," Canabarro said in one video posted on social media. The video shows her celebrating her 116th birthday with the club's president.

LongeviQuest said Canabarro became the oldest living person following the death of Japan's Tomiko Itooka in December. She now ranks as the 20th oldest documented person to have ever lived. The organization says Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, was the oldest documented person ever.

I'm Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press.

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Words in This Story

nun -n. a woman who lives in a religious community and usually remains⁸ unmarried and serves God

positive -adj. good, uplifting

jolt -n. a sudden release of energy; a surprise that causes sudden increase in attention

1 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

2 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

3 hail   

n.雹，一阵；vi.下雹；vt.高呼，为...喝彩

参考例句：

• Hail fell with such violence that it broke windows.冰雹猛落，把玻璃窗也砸破了。
• The people lined the streets to hail the returning heroes.人们夹道欢迎凯旋的英雄们。

4 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

5 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

6 pope   

n.（罗马天主教的）教皇

参考例句：

• The Pope is the spiritual leader of many Christians.教皇是众多基督徒的宗教领袖。
• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。

7 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。