# World Religion Day (January)

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Christopher Buck, World Religion Day (January), bahai-library.com.
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> 936    World Religion Day (January)
> 
> Peace Ceremony at Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, and then the Gelugpa
> School accepted responsibility for the celebrations at Sarnath, where the Buddha
> began his public ministry and preached his first sermon.
> The development of the World Peace Ceremony celebrations has left the origi-
> nal event at Bodh Gaya as primarily a gathering for the various sub-schools of the
> Nyingma tradition, though its observance regularly includes a visit from the Dalai
> Lama, who will make several stops in India throughout the week of Monlam.
> J. Gordon Melton
> 
> See also Diwali; Doukhobor Peace Day; Monlam, the Great Prayer Festival;
> Nehan; Wesak/Vesak; World Peace and Prayer Day.
> 
> References
> The World Peace Ceremony/Bodh Gaya 1994. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1994.
> The World Peace Ceremony/Prayers at Holy Places. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing,
> 1994.
> 
> World Religion Day (January)
> 
> World Religion Day, observed worldwide on the third Sunday of January each
> year, is a Bahá’ı́-inspired idea that has taken on a life of its own. In 2009, for in-
> stance, the Halifax (Nova Scotia) Regional Municipality in Canada celebrated its
> sixth annual World Religion Day in the Cathedral of All Saints, in recognition of
> which the mayor and councilors of the Halifax Regional Municipality issued a
> proclamation. In 2007, at the World Religion Day event hosted by the Entebbe
> Municipal Council of Entebbe, Uganda (situated on the northern shores of Lake
> Victoria), participating religious leaders signed a joint declaration to establish
> the Entebbe Inter-Faith Coalition. The signatories pledged to use “the unifying
> power of religion to instill in the hearts and minds of all people of faith the funda-
> mental facts and spiritual standards that have been laid down by our Creator to
> bring them together as members of one family.”
> World Religion Day, now observed internationally, originated among American
> Bahá’ı́s. Its history dates back to 1949, when the National Spiritual Assembly of
> the Bahá’ı́s of the United States (the national Bahá’ı́ governing council) instituted
> an annual World Religion Day “to be observed publicly by the Bahá’ı́ Commun-
> ities wherever possible throughout the United States.” The third Sunday of January
> each year was designated for this celebration, and the first World Religion Day
> event took place on January 15, 1950.
> The Bahá’ı́ Faith, among the younger of the independent world religions,
> emphasizes unity in the human community, and the inauguration of World Reli-
> gion Day seemed a natural expression and extension of the Bahá’ı́ focus on the
> unity of religions, races, and nations. However, this was not the exclusive, nor
> even the primary original purpose of World Religion Day. In 1968, the Universal
> World Religion Day (January)            937
> 
> House of Justice, the international Bahá’ı́ governing body established in 1963,
> wrote:
> 
> Your letter of September 30, with the suggestion that “there should be one
> day in the year in which all of the religions should agree” is a happy thought,
> and one which persons of good will throughout the world might well hail.
> However, this is not the underlying concept of World Religion Day, which
> is a celebration of the need for and the coming of a world religion for man-
> kind, the Bahá’ı́ Faith itself. Although there have been many ways of
> expressing the meaning of this celebration in Bahá’ı́ communities in the
> United States, the Day was not meant primarily to provide a platform for
> all religions and their emergent ecumenical ideas. In practice, there is no
> harm in the Bahá’ı́ communities’ inviting the persons of other religions to
> share their platforms on this Day, providing the universality of the Bahá’ı́
> Faith as the fulfillment of the hopes of mankind for a universal religion are
> clearly brought forth. (Lights of Guidance, no. 1710)
> 
> On April 2002, the Universal House of Justice issued a letter “To the World’s Reli-
> gious Leaders,” in which interfaith dialogue is highly regarded. However, the letter
> states that the initiatives of the interfaith movement of the previous century “lack both
> intellectual coherence and spiritual commitment.” For its part, “the Bahá’ı́ community
> has been a vigorous promoter of interfaith activities from the time of their inception”
> and will continue to assist, valuing the “cherished associations” that these activities
> create. It continued: “We owe it to our partners in this common effort, however, to
> state clearly our conviction that interfaith discourse, if it is to contribute meaningfully
> to healing the ills that afflict a desperate humanity, must now address honestly . . . the
> implications of the over-arching truth . . . that God is one and that, beyond all diversity
> of cultural expression and human interpretation, religion is likewise one.”
> While neither the Universal House of Justice nor the National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ı́s of the United States currently plays an active role in promoting World
> Religion Day events, the Bahá’ı́ International Community (an official organ of the
> Universal House of Justice) has consistently reported on such events, with obvious
> appreciation. In the United States, the timing of World Religion Day now conflicts
> with Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (the third Monday in January), observed for the
> first time on January 20, 1986. While this has led to the discontinuance of World
> Religion Day in many locales, some Bahá’ı́ communities integrate the two days,
> while others may hold their World Religion Day events a few days earlier.
> This, in brief, is how and why World Religion Day has subsequently taken on a
> life of its own. There are several outstanding examples of this. On January 20,
> 2007, in Brazzaville, the Congo Republic became the second country to issue a
> postage stamp for World Religion Day. Featuring a globe surrounded by the sym-
> bols of 11 religions, the stamp bears a French superscription which, translated,
> reads: “God is the source of all religions.” Following a World Religion Day
> 938    World Religion Day (January)
> 
> program that drew more than 250 participants from eight faith-communities,
> agents were present to sell both the stamps and first-day covers. In 1985, Sri Lanka
> had become the first country to issue a World Religion Day stamp.
> The purpose of World Religion Day today is to highlight the essential harmony of
> the world’s religions, to foster their transconfessional affinity through interfaith ecu-
> menism, and to promote the idea and ideal of world unity in which the world’s reli-
> gions can play a potentially significant role. This generalization is based on
> observations of how World Religion Day is celebrated in events that are sponsored
> by organizations that are not Bahá’ı́, whether in concert with local Bahá’ı́ sponsorship
> or entirely independent of it. (In most cases, the Bahá’ı́s continue to play a vital role in
> the orchestration and success of these events.) The day is celebrated with interfaith dia-
> logue, conferences, and other events that advance not only mutual understanding (or
> what scholars call “spiritual literacy”), but recognition, respect, and reciprocity among
> the followers of all religions who join together in celebrating World Religion Day.
> Where observed, World Religion Day events typically do not attract representatives
> and participants from all local faith-communities, primarily for religious reasons. As
> such, World Religion Day provides an insightful social barometer of the extent to
> which various religious groups are willing to formally associate with each other
> While World Religion Day events are still sponsored and cosponsored by local
> members of the Bahá’ı́ Faith worldwide, an increasing number of World Religion
> Day events are independently organized by interfaith or multi-faith coalitions. For
> instance, in Tralee, Ireland, the local World Religion Day observance was organ-
> ized by the Kerry Diocesan Justice, Peace and Creation Committee, a member
> organization of Pax Christi International in Ireland. In 2009, the third annual ob-
> servance of World Religion Day in Greensboro, North Carolina, was organized
> by FaithAction and the Piedmont Interfaith Council. Also in 2009, World Religion
> Day was celebrated by Vadamalayan Hospitals and Vadamalayan Institute of Para-
> medical Sciences, in which a quiz competition was held to mark the occasion.
> In certain cases, civic governments, both national and local, have recognized
> the positive social value of World Religion Day events. In 2004, the House of
> Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky pro-
> claimed January 17–18, 2004, as “World Religion Weekend” and went on to “urge
> the Commonwealth’s citizens to participate in the observance of World Religion
> Weekend.” In 2007, the Republic of Ghana’s Ghana@50 Secretariat organized a
> symposium themed “The Unity of the Faiths” on World Religion Day on Sunday,
> February 18, 2007. In January 2008, the City Council of Duncan, British Colum-
> bia, Canada, proclaimed January 20, 2008, as World Religion Day. In a 2009
> World Religion Day event in Australia, the parliamentary secretary for multicul-
> tural affairs and settlement services, Laurie Ferguson, said: “Interfaith dialogue
> plays an important role in increasing understanding of our nation’s religious and
> cultural diversity and bringing Australians closer together. The Australian
> Government supports interfaith dialogue at the highest levels.” Many World Reli-
> gion Day events are associated with mayoral or municipal proclamations.
> World Religion Day (January)           939
> 
> World Religion Day is self-perpetuating, thanks to the initiatives of progressive
> individuals and institutions who share a vision of religious confraternity. It is an
> inspired idea, with widespread appeal and remarkable longevity.
> Christopher Buck
> 
> See also ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Ascension of; Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’ı́ Intercalary Days);
> Báb, Festival of the Birth of the; Báb, Festival of the Declaration of the; Báb, Mar-
> tyrdom of the; Bahá’ı́ Calendar and Rhythms of Worship; Bahá’ı́ Faith; Bahá’ı́
> Fast; Bahá’u’lláh, Ascension of; Bahá’u’lláh, Festival of the Birth of; Covenant,
> Day of the; Naw-Rúz, Festival of; Nineteen-Day Feast (Bahá’ı́); Race Unity
> Day; Ridván, Festival of.
> ˙
> References
> Bahá’ı́ Computer and Communications Association (BCCA). “World Religion Day”
> (“Sample Press Release”). Posted at http://www.bcca.org/orgs/usnsa/samples.html.
> Accessed September 30, 2009.
> Bahá’ı́ International Community. “Congo Republic Issues Stamp for World Religion Day.”
> One Country 18, no. 4 (January–March 2007). Posted at http://www.onecountry.org/
> e184/e18409as_Congo_Stamp.htm. Accessed July 15, 2010.
> Hornby, Helen, comp. Lights of Guidance: A Bahá’ı́ Reference File. 6th ed. New Delhi:
> Bahá’ı́ Publishing Trust, 1999.
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ı́s of the United States. “World Religion Day.”
> Bahá’ı́ News, no. 226 (December 1949): 5.
> Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services. “World Reli-
> gion Day 2009.” Posted at http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/parlsec/media/media
> -releases/2009/lf09002.htm. Accessed July 15, 2010.
> Universal House of Justice, The. Letter to a Local Spiritual Assembly, October 22, 1968.
> Lights of Guidance, no. 1710.
> Universal House of Justice, The. “To the World’s Religious Leaders.” 2002.
> World Religion Day. Posted at http://www.worldreligionday.org. Accessed July 15, 2010.
>
> — *World Religion Day (January) (Used by permission of the curator)*