His Holiness is the official style or manner of address used in reference to the leaders of certain religious groups. In Christianity, specifically the Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Roman Catholic Church (as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches), the style is used when respectively referring to the Pope of Alexandria and to the Pope of Rome. It is also used in reference to several other Christian patriarchs and catholicoi.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is also addressed in the same manner in English, as are other Buddhist leaders such as Sakya Trizin, the Patriarch of Sakyapa.

Other ecclesiastical dignitaries enjoy inferior styles. A Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church enjoys the rank and precedence of a sovereign prince, and is styled Your Eminence. A Patriarch of an Eastern Rite Church is styled Your Beatitude, and an Archbishop or Bishop is styled Your Excellency.

In Christianity, the style derives from the Latin word sanctitas. It was originally used for all bishops but, from the 7th century, it was only used for popes, patriarchs and some secular rulers. From the 14th century its use was restricted to a small minority of the Christian patriarchs, notably the Pope of Alexandria, the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Moscow. In the Dawoodi Bohra sect of the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, the title is held by Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".

In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.

For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.

Bhakti Charu Swami is a Vaishnava swami and a religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is ISKCON Guru and a member of ISKCON Governing Body Commission. Previously he was simultaneously acting as ISKCON's minister of arts and culture. He is an initiated disciple of ISKCON's founder His Divine Grace, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and has translated Shrila Prabhupada's literary works in Bengali and also produced a television serial on Prabhupada's life entitled "Abhay Charan". He's also serving on an advisory panel of I-Foundation, a leading Hindu charity organisation in the United Kingdom.

Bhakti Charu Swami was born in East Bengal in 1945 and spent most of his early life in urban Calcutta. In 1976 he joined ISKCON. During his first meeting with ISKCON's founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, he was instructed to translate Prabhupada's books into Bengali. Soon afterwards, Prabhupada awarded him first and second initiations simultaneously, and appointed him as his secretary for Indian affairs. About three months later Prabhupada gave him sannyasa.^{[citation needed]}