Spiritual leaders and canonical scholars from around the world are gathering in Montreal for a global conference on religions in the post Sept. 11 world.

Delegates will meet and discuss what impact the attacks on the U.S. have had on the world's religion as a whole.

During opening ceremonies Monday night conference participants heard from Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

The events of 9/11 have turned the world's attention to Islam, and it has struggled to differentiate between the acts of individuals and the religion practised by millions, Ebadi said in Persian as she addressed the audience at the Palais des Congrès Monday night.

There's an urgent need to secularize religion and spiritualize politics, said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the India-based Art of Living Foundation. "Politicians should be more spiritual," he said during his opening remarks at the conference. "Spiritual is honouring the values of compassion and non-violence."

The best way to combat social forces that foment terrorism is to teach people about religious beliefs, said Shankar. People should learn about other religions the way they explore international cuisine.

"We go and eat food in a Chinese restaurant. You don't need to be Danish to eat Danish cookies. You don't need to be Canadian to eat maple syrup," said Shankar. "Why don't we allow our children our globalized wisdom? Learn a little bit from every other tradition." 

Other participants at the conference include Deepak Chopra, and McGill University ethicist Margaret Somerville.

The conference runs until Friday.