Italian nun entered the convent 88 years ago.

Sister Serafina, the oldest nun in Europe, has died in Rome at the age of 111.

Born Anna La Morgia in 1913, Suor Serafina joined the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 88 years ago when she was 19.

Suor Serafina was originally from Lanciano, in the Chieti province of Italy's central Abruzzo region, but spent most of her religious life in the capital.

She had a twin who followed the same vocation, Suor Modesta, who died aged 98.

Sister Serafina was in the news in Italy last year when, at the age of 110, she was given a six-month wait for a medical appointment.

The case sparked an outcry and resulted in the intervention of the governor of the Lazio region, Francesco Rocca.

After teaching catechism to children in Abruzzo, in 1952 Sister Serafina moved to Rome where she worked in the kitchen of the generalate house in the Trullo district for 50 years.

Photo Corriere della Sera