We spend about 5 months a year in a village in Italy, it has about 1200 people. At Mass, I’d say there’s never more than about 100 people in (the enormous) church, and with the exception of the music group (all young women), the congregation is elderly - I’m probably one of the youngest and I’m nearly 60. The priest is an old man, too. There are 5 churches in the village and four of them simply aren’t used and are usually locked up.
When there’s a baptism or wedding (which are always just incorporated into the regular Mass), the church is much busier, of course.
The difference between Italy and my parish in England (from my point of view) is that the younger Italians identify nominally as Catholic and are respectful of the faith - they just don’t attend Mass. In England, it would be more likely for a younger adult who was baptised Catholic to say they had no religious faith. And of course, with Catholicism being the official religion in Italy, public buildings still display a crucifix and the carabinieri walk with the priest and the Mayor on the regular processions through the village to mark various events in the Church calendar.
Having said that, Christmas and Easter are still very busy times in my parish in England, and the church will be crammed-to-the-rafters full - usually, it’s at least half-empty. So at some level, people are still observing the faith of their childhood.
