The oldest person in the world, the Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, has died at the age of 116. The soccer-loving nun, from São Francisco de Assis, passed away peacefully on Wednesday from old age. She became the world's oldest person in December after the death of Japanese woman, Tomiko Itooka. Her ascension to the position was confirmed by LongeviQuest, an organisation that tracks supercentenarians around the globe, reports The Mirror US. Living a long life has become an obsession for rich and powerful people, but Inah had her own more humble secret recipe. Sister Inah Canabarro was so skinny growing up that many didn't think she would survive childhood. She claimed the secret to her long life is her Catholic faith. She passes weeks after Pope Francis as efforts are underway to pick his successor. "I'm young, pretty and friendly - all very good, positive qualities that you have too," the Teresian nun would tell the visitors to her retirement home in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. Canabarro took the title of the oldest living person following the death of Japan's Tomiko Itooka in December, according to LongeviQuest. She ranked as the 20th oldest documented person to have ever lived, a list topped by Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122. With Inah's passing, the world's oldest person is now 115-year-old Ethel Caterham, from the UK, according to LongeviQuest and the US Gerontological Research Group. 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. Her great-grandfather was a famed Brazilian general who took up arms during the turbulent period following Brazil's independence from Portugal in the 19th century. She took up religious work still a teenager and spent two years in Montevideo, Uruguay, before moving to Rio de Janeiro and eventually settling in her home state of Rio Grande do Sul. A lifelong teacher, among her former students was General Joao Figueiredo, the last of the military dictators who governed Brazil between 1964 and 1985. She was also the beloved creator of two marching bands at schools in sister cities straddling the border between Uruguay and Brazil. For her 110th birthday, she was honoured by Pope Francis. She was the second oldest nun ever documented, after Lucile Randon, who was the world's oldest person until her death in 2023 at the age of 118. Local soccer club Inter - which was founded after Canabarro's birth - had celebrated every year the birthday of its oldest fan. Her room was decorated with gifts in the team's red and white colours, her nephew revealed. "White or black, rich or poor, whoever you are, Inter is the team of the people," she said in one video posted on social media celebrating her 116th birthday with the club's president. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.