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My family is Roman Catholic (not Italian, but of German descent), and the LW's description of the christening ceremony sounded perfectly normal to me. I've had several nieces and nephews christened within the last five years, and in all cases it was similar -- family and close friends come from out of town (if they don't live in town) and bring presents; the christening ceremony (separate from a mass) involves several families getting their children getting christened in front of those family and friends, with the godparents of the child playing a prominent role and other people taking pictures; and afterwards people get together, often at the parents' house or the grandparents' house (if it's nearby and suitable) to open the presents and eat. As far as I know, this is all fairly standard in the Roman Catholic church, though obviously it's strange and befuddling to some of the people responding here. A cultural thing, apparently.
