'United in Diversity': The Church’s Experience and the European Union’s Identity Motto

The paper analyses a potential relationship between religion and politics in the context of the EU’s motto, unity in diversity. It’s aimed at verifying the thesis that claims the European Union’s identity motto has its roots in the ecclesial model of identity. The following analysis is a two–stage one. First, it considers whether the Church’s and the EU’s respective “unities in diversity” mean a similar thing; secondly, it elaborates the channels (cultural, ecclesial and political) through which the ecclesial model has been transferred into European politics. In the last part of the contribution, the author considers the significance of the ecclesial experience for the current European integration debates.