As it praises a mother who raised 11, the Vatican frets over low birth rate ROME — It’s an enduring image — the extended Italian family crowding around a dining-room table piled with food and wine, surrounded by nieces, nephews, cousins and screaming children. Trouble is, it is no longer a widespread reality. Nowadays it takes a Christmas or Easter holiday to gather a crowd in the average Italian household, and the result is a lot more like Thanksgiving dinner in “Everybody Loves Raymond” than the 4th of July barbecue at Tony Soprano’s. The plain fact is that Italians just...