IT NOW becomes my privilege to say goodbye to the people of Italy and to this beautiful country. Every time I come to Italy I am struck by the very warm friendship that I seem to feel between this people and the people of America. And I assure you that that affection is reciprocated.
I have had good talks with the heads of your government--your President and Prime Minister Segni. I am sure that on the vital issues that are now besetting the world, we are in accord--we see them in the same way. We hope to approach them for solutions in the same way.
As I go on this trip, I feel that a very fine beginning has been made here.
And so, as I express the gratitude of my party and myself to all of you, to the heads of your government, and to all the people that hear me, I express the hope that again I may return.
Finally, I want to say I have just come from a visit with His Holiness the Pope, and I have been inspired by his approval of the effort that the free nations together are making to bring some progress toward peace and friendship in freedom.
Thank you again, and goodbye.
Note: Prior to making these remarks the President attended services at St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church and visited Pope John XXIII at the Vatican. He then left by helicopter from the grounds of the North American Ecclesiastical College for the airport, where he was met by Premier Antonio Segni, Foreign Minister Giuseppe Pella, Manlio Brosio, Italian Ambassador to the United States, and James D. Zellerbach, U.S. Ambassador to Italy.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Remarks at Ciampino Airport, Rome, Upon Leaving for Turkey. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234673
