AMAZONIAN tribesmen environmental campaigners joined North-East churchgoers on the path of one of the region’s greatest saints.

Davi Yanomami and Mauricio Ye’kuama, from Brazil, were among about 30 walkers who today (Friday, September 26) followed Cuddy’s Course, the eight-mile route taken 1,000 years ago by monks carrying St Cuthbert’s coffin from Chester-le-Street to Durham, where the famous cathedral was founded.

The event was organised by the Catholic aid organisation Cafod, which works with Amazonian tribes that are fighting to protect their environment from de-forestation and mining.

Mr Yanomami is the president, and Mr Ye’kuama the vice-president, of Hutukara, an organisation that fights for the rights of indigenous people in Brazil.

Mr Yanomami has previously visited the North-East and spent time on Holy Island.

John McBride, Cafod’s diocesan officer for the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese, said: “About four and five years ago Davi did a pilgrimage to Holy Island where he learned about St Cuthbert and this continues the story because he is following the path that Cuthbert’s body took from Chester-le-Street down to Durham Cathedral.

“Hopefully he will pick up on the northern saints, Cuthbert and Oswald, and the journeys that they took.

“We heard that he was coming to Europe so Hexham and Newcastle put in a bid to have him back because he is such a charismatic guy .

“He is completely devoted to his people. He is a Cafod partner and we support him.

“He and Mauricio have put their lives on the line doing the work they do. They have had death threats.”

The people of the Amazon are under threat from gold mining and logging and there is concern that the loss of the forest could have a global impact on the environment.

Mr McBride said:“His people’s impact on the earth is so minimal that it makes us look like vandals.”

The walk started from St Mary and St Cuthbert’s Church in Chester-le-Street, the town’s main Anglican church and the site of a cathedral before Viking invaders forced the monks south.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Yanomami said he had received strong support from people in this country and that he was pleased to be returning to the region.