Lover a Catholic picked up in Italian area (9)
I believe the answer is:
inamorata
'lover' is the definition.
(I know that inamorata is a type of lover)
'a catholic picked up in italian area' is the wordplay.
'catholic' becomes 'roman' (Roman Catholic is an example).
'picked up' says the letters should be written backwards.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'italian' becomes 'it' (abbreviation for Italian).
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'a'+'roman'='aroman'
'aroman' in reverse letter order is 'namora'.
'namora' put into 'it' is 'inamorat'.
'inamorat'+'a'='INAMORATA'
(Other definitions for inamorata that I've seen before include "Beloved of one another" , "Female lover" , "loved one" , "Sweetheart" , "Girlfriend" .)