There has to be some structure to operas, it's based on a libretto which tends to have a dramatic structure. And opera was quite important in the romantic period of course, Wagner, Verdi etc.
A religious inspiration to the extent suggested would certainly imply a lack of secular subjects. Romanticism was about the glorification of the feelings of the individual raised up to an ideal and worshiped level almost. At the same time, paradoxically, it was influenced by political nationalism because of the political circumstances of the time. I don't really know how anyone can ignore these secular aspects and just focus on religion in this time. Some composers may have been religious obviously, but that wasn't as defining as it was in Bach's cantatas.
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