BUDUĆNOST EUROPE I SVIJETA U SVJETLU FILOZOFIJE JACQUESA MARITAINA.

When we talk about the European idea, Europe as a geographical or cultural space, or especially about the European Union, we can often hear about the Founding Fathers of EU and the famous trio of Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi, and eventually Jean Monnet with them. This is historically grounded and certainly justified. But very rarely we can hear about the great French philosopher Jacques Maritain and about his influence on the European project and Euro-Atlantic integration. This should not be seen as an injustice, but only as a curiosity. This paper, in which the author brings and expands some excerpts from his doctoral dissertation, seeks to shed some light on Maritain's role in this context, i.e. to try to look at the future of Europe in the light of his philosophy, and especially in the context of the issue of the relationship between politics and religion. In one sentence - over the past century, Maritain has played perhaps the most important role in shaping the idea of European and world unity, and despite everything that discourages us today, the future of Europe and then the whole world in the light of Maritain's philosophy is not dark and there is room for everyone in it. Is it possible and wise to think about the future of European unity without thinking about the world unity? If the unification of Europe is a good thing, is the unification of the world even better? Is the anthropological question the crucial one? How important is religion in the context of Europe and its future? What about secularity and secularism? What is the future of religion? Are Europe and EU (exclusively) Christian continent and project? Is democracy conceivable without Christianity? To what extent is religion/faith personal and private, and to what extent is it a public matter? What about the controversial relationship between religion and politics? Finally, what does all this mean for interreligious dialogue within the EU - especially between Jews, Christians and Muslims? – these are some of the issues that the author deals with in his work or just points to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]