Desacralization of a National Day – religious and identity symbols in the commemorations of December 1st

The contemporary world seems to be characterized by a new trend, that of returning and appreciating its past. In this search we witness the rise of a new spirituality, to the birth of new connections between religion, memory, identity and media. In this process, the sacred acquires new meanings and we can talk about the sacralization of memory which brings a conjunction between personal and group identity. The paper analyzes three national newspapers, over a 3 year span, between 2009 and 2011 and by means of the framing theory, reflects the way that written press presents the process of commemorating the National Day of Romania. The research proves the fact that the religious and sacred symbols are politicized, the commemoration is deeply caught in the profane space and the Romanian press doesn’t contribute to the sacralization of the commemorations, on the contrary, the reports are a way of deritualizing such an important moment.