'I dare not say what that fate would be,' interrupted [Jeronimo], 'or what my own, should I consent to assist you; but, though I am old, I have no quite forgotten to feel for others! (168)

As introduced in interruptions, The Italian was published in response to Matthew G. Lewis' The Monk and the religious overtones in The Italian are subsequently blurred by a metaphor working in more than one way. At first read, The Italian seems to have strong anti-religious overtones: as discussed in divergence, Schedoni is the separator of narratives, the embodied conflict of the novel whose external loyalty to the Marchese seems only a front for true internal evil.

The relationship between Schedoni and religion is interestingly the inverse of that of The Monk's Ambrosio. While Ambrosio spent his formative years in the convent and it is clear that the confines of religion are directly related to his subsequent explosion into temptation, Schedoni killed his brother before he takes the cloth. It was not religion that caused Schedoni to become evil, according to the novel; it only served as his hiding place after his deeds had already been committed. This difference between The Italian and The Monk helps to explain the public outrage regarding the latter's immorality. In The Failure of Gothic, Elizabeth R. Napier writes:

If such characters [refering to those of another Radcliffe novel, A Sicilian Romance] are to be used as exemplars (of an ethical system that has been condemned), it is of importance to the authors not to compromise their moral stands by making such villians attractive ... Ambrosio and Schedoni clearly raise some questions about this framework, for both figures demand reader sympathy--either through erotic stimulation, as in The Monk, or, more complexly, through emotional interest, as in The Italian. (134-35)

The sympathies, however, are not as similar as Napier characterizes them. Radcliffe does not need to inject a sympathic side into Schedoni in the same way that Lewis did Ambrosio, because, as seen above, Ambrosio is a direct product of the Church while Schedoni is merely a convert.

The Italian does use religious stalwarts such as mountain convents (San Stefani) and the Inquisition as vehicles for the narrative divergences which pervade the novel. The second separation of Vivaldi and Ellena comes in a Church as they are about to marry, however Radcliffe carefully pins the blame on Schedoni:

The tone, in which she pronounced the last 'farewell!' was so touching, that even the cold heart of the priest could not resist it; but he impatiently wiped away the few tears, that rushed into his eyes, before they were observed. Vivaldi heard it - it seemed to arouse him from death! - he heard her mournful voice for the last time, and, turning his eyes, saw her veil floating away through the portal of the chapel. (222)

The paradoxical "cold heart" of the priest seems to come from his refusal to give aid to the lovers as they are dragged away. This refusal, however, is justified under the confines of the book as the "awful power" of the Inquisition would have come down upon the priest, had he performed an unlawful marriage (218). The priest is touched by the emotion inherent in the separation of Vivaldi and Ellena, portraying a side of religion untouched in The Monk.