[F16Fighter]

"The fact that almost 35% of Italians self-identified as Communists in that time period would suggest that at most 65% of Italians were Catholic."

Though Italian Communists, Socialists, Fascists -- nearly everyone remained Catholic.

[wideawake]

Though Italian Communists, Socialists, Fascists -- nearly everyone remained Catholic.

Incorrect.

You have made this assertion without a shred of evidence.

In point of fact, attendance at Mass in Italy dropped some 40% in Italy between 1880-1940. During this period, for the first time, millions of children were not even baptized.

Pope St. Pius X altered the discipline on the Eucharist intentionally in order to combat this phenomenon and he encountered mixed results.