Pilgrimage phenomenon in the new context of post-communist Romanian media

Religion in contemporary society is a sensitive and controversial topic, which the mass media in Romania is trying to capture in a specific manner. This article aims to explore one of the most visible and dynamic religious events: the pilgrimage. In the post-communist Romanian society, the pilgrimage has gradually grown in importance and has been practiced by a very large number of believers, turning itself into a mass phenomenon. Twenty years after the fall of communism in Romania, there are two main pilgrimages that dominate the Orthodox religious environment: the pilgrimage to Saint Parascheva of Iasi and the pilgrimage to Saint Dumitru cel Nou, Basarabov in Bucharest. These two pilgrimages are practiced in old sacred centres with a long tradition and with their own unique identity. The objective of this article is focused on how the mass mass media understands and relates to the religious phenomenon and the way that journalists depict the image of the pilgrimages in the published articles. The study investigates the articles published in newspapers during the period 1990-2010 and frames the information according to the existing interest areas.