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Latino Christians grapple with complicated identity

Allen Hernandez wears his Chris­tian faith and his indigenous Maya roots on his sleeves, literally.

His left arm is tattooed with images of the sacred heart of Jesus, a pair of hands clasped in prayer, and an angel praying over the tombstone of a friend.

His right forearm is emblazoned with a tattoo of a feathered serpent, a Mesoamerican deity worshiped by the Yucatán Maya people.

“I am indigenous. I am Mayan and I am Christian,” said Hernandez, 39, whose parents are from Guatemala. “I don’t know how these fit in the same sentence.”