The title His Holiness or Her Holiness (and the associated form of address Your Holiness) is an official title or style referring to leaders in a number of religious traditions. It is used to refer to the pope in Catholicism; this use can be traced back several hundred years. It is also an official title for Oriental Orthodox patriarchs or Catholicoi. It is used to refer to religious leaders in Islam, Buddhism, and Bon. Buddhist leaders referred to this way include Lu Sheng-yen, the Dalai Lama, the Menri Trizin, and Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras, among others.
The English-language honorific "His Holiness" and the female version "Her Holiness" have commonly and very recently been used for religious leaders from other traditions, including Buddhist
leaders such as Lu Sheng-Yen, the Dalai Lama, the Gyalwa Karmapa, the Je Khenpo in Bhutan and Shinso Ito of the Shinnyo-en branch of Shingon Buddhism. In the Bön tradition it is used for the Menri Trizin.
File:Dalai Lama 1430 Luca Galuzzi 2007crop.jpg|[[Dalai Lama]], [[Tenzin Gyatso]] (b. 1935)
File:PanchenLama.jpg|[[Panchen Lama|11° Panchen Lama]], [[Gedhun Choekyi Nyima]] (b. 1989)
File:17-Karmapa-Lon.jpg|[[Karmapa|17° Karmapa]], [[Trinley Thaye Dorje]] (b. 1983)
File:Ogyen Trinley Dorje by Prince Roy cropped.jpeg|[[Karmapa|17° Karmapa]], [[Ogyen Trinley Dorje]] (b. 1985)
File:Druk white lotus school gya.jpg|[[Gyalwang Drukpa|12° Gyalwang Drukpa]], [[Jigme Pema Wangchen]] (b. 1963)
His Holiness (Sanctitas) is the official style used to address the Roman Catholic pope.
The full papal title, rarely used, is:
His Holiness (Francis), Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God.
The best-known title, that of "Pope", does not appear in the official list of titles, but is commonly used in the titles of documents and appears, in abbreviated form, in their signatures as "PP", standing for Papa (Pope).