The world's oldest person is a French nun.
On April 25, 2022, the Guinness World Record statement said that Sister André is the oldest nun alive in the world.
On the death of Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman, who was recorded as the world’s oldest verified living person by the International Database on Longevity (IDL) and Guinness World Records, on April 19, 2022, Sister André became the oldest verified living person in the world.
Laurent Toussaint who is a Computer Scientist and amateur tracker for the IDL as well as the French Institute of demographic studies (INED), told, “Sister André indeed becomes the oldest, and by far since the next oldest is a Polish woman who is 115.”
Sister André Lucile Randon was born in Alès, the southern part of France on February 11, 1904, (ten years before World War I). Her parents are Paul Randon and Alphonsine Delphine Yéta Soutoul. She has two elder brothers and a twin sister, Lydie who died at the age of one. At the age of twelve in 1916, she worked as Governess to three children in Marseille. In 1922, she was Governess and teacher in Versailles located 12 miles (19 km) west of Paris, France.
She was born in a Protestant family and her grandfather was a pastor. At the age of 19, she converted to Catholicism. She joined the Congregation of Daughters of Charity, also known as Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul. She took the name of Sister André which is the name of her dead brother.
She served the orphans and the elders at the hospital in Vichy (located in the region of Central France) for 28 years and shifted to serve at another hospital at La Baume-d’Hostun (located in southeastern France).
The nun retired at the age of 75 in 1979. She stayed 30 years at the French residential care for senior citizens in Savoie (located in the French Alps). And then, she shifted to the home for the aged in Toulon along the Mediterranean coast on October 25, 2009.
She lost her eyesight in 2010 and could not see. She spent her days in a wheelchair. She starts her day with breakfast followed by morning Mass.
The Super-centenarian nun said to the reporters, "People say that work kills, for me work kept me alive, I kept working until I was 108,"
She always takes care of other residents in the hospice although she could not see anymore.
"People should help each other and love each other instead of hating. If we shared all that, things would be a lot better," Sister André said.
According to the Guinness World Records statement, she got infected with the Covid-19 and recovered after three weeks. She was verified as the oldest survivor of Covid-19 at the age of 117 in 2021.
On becoming the new oldest person alive, she expressed her mixed feelings to the French TV channel RMC Story.
"I feel I would be better off in heaven, but the good Lord does not want me yet," she said, calling the title a "sad honor."
And also, she stated her joy because of her family’s kindness and care.
According to the tweeter post from the hospice, French President Emmanuel Macron sent his handwriting birthday note to a 118-year-old nun, Sister André.
In her lifetime, President Macron is the 18th French President and Pope Francis is the tenth pope.
She needs to beat the record of another French woman, Jeanne Louise Calment. According to Guinness World Records Statement, Calment was born on February 21, 1875, and died in 1997.
Her life span was 122 years and 164 Days.
According to Statista.com, the United States is in the first place with 97000 centenarians and Japan is in the second place with 79000 centenarians.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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