Ritenersi + subjunctive clause not introduced by "che"?

Question

In this article on COVID-19, we have:

Inoltre, pensando al 1630, ci si immagina un mondo buio, tra lazzaretti dove venivano ricoverati i malati e figure dei presunti untori che si riteneva diffondessero volontariamente la malattia...

Also, considering 1630, one imagines a gloomy world, with the sick recovering in quarantine hospitals, and the alleged 'untori' who were thought to have intentionally spread the plague...

My question is around the construction ritenersi + subjunctive, without an intervening "che" — is this syntax permitted in Italian, and if so, what is its stylistic effect?

Answer 1

Yes, the syntax is fine; sometimes we omit the "che" in order to avoid repetitions ("presunti untori che si riteneva (che) diffondessero") or, more rarely, just to keep the sentence shorter ("si ritiene siano stati i primi a..." = "it is believed they were the first to...").

Usually we can omit the "che" when in the subjunctive clause the subject is implied; if the subject is explicitly mentioned, omitting the "che" does not sound quite right.

E.g.

1. Lucy è l'ominide più famoso al mondo. Si ritiene (che) sia morta di sfinimento. Lucy is the World's most famous hominid. It is believed she died by exhaustion.

2. Si ritiene che Lucy, l'ominide più famoso al mondo, sia morta di sfinimento. It is believed that Lucy - the World's most famous hominid - died by exhaustion.