Last Christian in Idlib recalls his community
The last Christian in Idlib is 90 years old. Despite the war and the challenges, he stayed in Idlib even as all Christians left as a result of the war and restrictions imposed by extremist Islamic factions.
Michel Boutros is a 90-year-old Christian in Syria’s Idlib who has turned into an icon of steadfastness despite the bloodshed of the war that has been plaguing his country for 10 years now.
Boutros is the only Christian who insisted on staying in the city of Idlib in northern Syria. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Boutros said he was born in 1931 and can barely read the Bible. The walls of his house are decorated with crosses and Christian religious images in a city devoid of Christians.
“I do not have children, and I am not even married," Boutros said. "My children are the flocks of pigeons that I raise in my house, with which I sometimes engage in conversations.”
He continued, “My family is from Idlib city. My family and I used to live here in this house, which became a part of me, and I shall not leave it, come what may. My brothers moved to live in Aleppo while my father, his wife and I chose to stay."
