Indigenous Identity | Religious Faith

13 September 2010
group photo

Comunidad Cósmica CC | Latin America and the Caribbean Region

Francisco Morales Ventosa found his indigenous identity at 18; at 28, he found it again. After years of rejecting religion as the mark of colonization, he gained a newfound respect for faith of all kinds at a URI youth assembly in Mayapur, India. A gathering of more than 100 youth from 35 countries, the meeting helped him see the wisdom in religious traditions, and gave him the freedom to embrace religion within the indigenous identity, to accept that indigenous identity and religious faith could coexist. Today he is a URI Youth Ambassador and founder of the Comunidad Cósmica CC, a space for indigenous youth to learn and share the wisdom of their varied faiths.