When the Italian airline Alitalia went bankrupt in 2008, the government swooped in with taxpayer money and Pope Benedict — a regular rider — offered the carrier a blessing. Six years later, as Alitalia stumbled into debt yet again, the government engineered another rescue.

But on Tuesday, even a papal decree would not have been enough to save Alitalia from what threatened to be its final stand, as Europe’s most troubled airline filed for bankruptcy once more, this time amid signs that the government, and the Italian people, were fed up from providing life support.

The latest drama over one of Italy’s most visible industrial symbols has plunged the already chaotic political and economic environment into further uncertainty. The country was regrouping after voters, in a populist outpouring, rejected constitutional changes in a December referendum that felled Matteo Renzi, then Italy’s prime minister.

Uncertainty over the health of the nation’s banks, plagued with 360 billion euros, or about $390 billion, in bad debt, has also been rattling global financial markets. Investors are worried that Italy, a “too big to fail” member of the eurozone, may set off another round of uncertainty for the single currency should new problems in the country’s banking system jeopardize its economy.