Perhaps you should visit the Universities in Italy in which Jews (all religious) attended and studied (in addition to their Torah studies).
BS”D
And their descendants are tragically among the least observant and coldest Jews on this planet. If it were not for an influx of Libyan and Persian Jews, and Chabad shluchim who largely succeed only among these immigrants and their children, Judaism in Italy would be relegated to the museums and a small cliquish community in Rome.