World Religion Day is an observance that was initiated in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States, which is celebrated worldwide on the third Sunday in January each year.
Though initiated in the United States, World Religion Day has come to be celebrated internationally by followers of the Baháʼí Faith.
"[5] In April 2002, the Universal House of Justice published a letter, "To the World's Religious Leaders", in which it stated: ...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.
[6]World Religion Day has been described as a "Baháʼí-inspired idea that has taken on a life of its own",[2] because its observance is no longer confined to the Baháʼí community, where it originally took shape.
[7] In 1949 observances in various communities in the United States made the local newspapers in December called "World Religion Day".
[11] By 1958 Baháʼís had gathered notices of events in a number of countries—sometimes attracting hundreds of people and sometimes overlapping with race amity priorities.