"The protests are wrong. Ours is a secular country and everyone has the freedom to preach and practice the religion of their choice," the seer said.

The Prayag Shankaracharya is scheduled to meet the supreme spiritual leader of Roman Catholic Christians at an inter-religious gathering being organised during his three-day visit to New Delhi commencing on November 5.

While the RSS has said that the Pope should not proclaim Christ as the only way to salvation, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has demanded that the pontiff should apologise for alleged inquisitions in Goa, Kerala and Vasai (Maharashtra) "by his forerunners". Both demands have been outrightly rejected by the country's Catholic Church.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference here, VHP senior vice president Acharya GirirajKishore said that dharnas would be organised in all the district headquarters throughout the country from Oct 25 to Nov 2.

Seeking to know in what capacity the Pope would visit the country, Kishore said: "If he is coming here as head of the Vatican state, he should not address any religious congregation. If he is visiting as the head of the Catholic missionaries, the Pope should not be given the protocol that befits a state head."

According to him, Sanskriti Raksha Samiti, the organisation opposing Pope's visit, has already undertaken a rath yatra from Goa to New Delhi to educate masses about the "anti-nation" activities of the missionaries. The yatra would pass through Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, he added.

He also said a number of tribal leaders from different parts of the country would converge in Delhi on November 2 to meet the Pope and explain to him the plight of the tribals, who were being converted by missionaries through dubious methods.

VHP state unit president G PullaReddy and general secretary P Muralidhar were present at the function.