The relationship between Italians and religion is very special, indeed.We have been a bunch of spiritual people since before the Romans.
Italy is, constitutionally, a nation embracing all creeds and religions, where the relationship between State and Church is regulated and sanctioned by constitutional laws. This is especially important as, geographically, the heart of the Catholic Church is within Italian soil. This very presence is rooted in the historical relevance of Rome in the history of Christianity, a relevance that has made the capital of Italy not only the geographical and beaurocratical centre of Catholicism, but also its spiritual core.
This is one of the reasons why we are, in the end and in spite of all, a Catholic country. No offense to all other religions welcomed and practiced within the boundaries of Italy, which are all embraced in a beautiful effort of inter-religious dialogue the Vatican itself has been working on with particular zeal, especially since the pontificate of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Each and every faith is welcome: some have been practiced along with Catholicism since the earliest times, like Judaism. Others have become preponderant in much more recent years, as a result of immigration, like Islam