Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 8, 24 (Winter 2009): 151-167 IOANA IANCU DELIA CRISTINA BALABAN RELIGION AND POLITICAL COMMUNICATION DURING ELECTIONS IN ROMANIA In the context in which the majority of Romanians are orthodox and the level of trust in Church is very high, this paper aims to analyze the level of political interference into religious life. The article focuses on particular aspects of political communication, namely the use of religious symbols and religious events in electoral campaigns. The main hypothesis of the research refers to the supposition that during the electoral years, the visibility of politicians presented by newspapers as attending religious events is higher than in the rest of the time. Moreover, the paper aims to analyze if there is an overlapping between the years in which politicians are presented to attend more religious services and the years in which people have higher trust in Church. Introduction The interplay of politics and religion is a frequently discussed, yet very sensitive issue in Romania. This matter can be treated from at least two perspectives. First, in their aim to improve their electoral image, there is the involvement of politicians into religion. Second there is the involvement of priests into political aspects of life, either by supporting certain political actors or by running for public offices. This paper will specifically focus on the first perspective, namely, the involvement of political personalities into religion life. With a strong Christian heritage, Romania has a majority of around 87% Orthodox Christians, 4,7% Romano-Catholics and 8,3% other religions. 1 Thus, in the context in which the majority of Romanians are orthodox and, as presented in the following part, the level of trust in Church is very high, this paper aims to analyze the level of political interference into religious life. Based on Public Opinion Barometers, the level of Romanians trust in Church is significantly high. The table bellow presents the evolution of very high and high trust in Church from 1996 to 2007, these data being the only available ones. Ioana Iancu Assistant at the Department for Communication and PR, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj- Napoca, Romania. Email: muresan_ioanar@yahoo.com Delia Cristina Balaban Associate Professor, Ph.D., at the Department for Communication and PR, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj- Napoca, Romania. Email: publicitate_ubb@yahoo.com Key Words: politics, religion, political communication, visibility