The honorific His Holiness is the official style used to refer to male leaders and highly respected spiritual figures of some religious groups; Her Holiness is the female equivalent. The term is sometimes abbreviated or "HH" or "H.H." when confusion with "His/Her Highness" is unlikely. The associated form of address is "Your Holiness". It is used for figures of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. The style may be used alone or followed by title and name; when speaking about a current Pope either "His Holiness visited the shrine..." or "His Holiness Pope Benedict visited the shrine...".
The title and form of address are used routinely by protocol in diplomacy and in formal contexts.
Famous quotes containing the word holiness:
“Say next to holiness is the will thereto,
And next to love is the desire for love,
The desire for its celestial ease in the heart,
Which nothing can frustrate, that most secure,
Unlike love in possession of that which was
To be possessed and is.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)