Departing FCO for the US on Oct. 28, 2011, there was no passport stamp, even though I asked for one. No, we just do that for visas, was the polite response. I suppose I could have insisted, or asked for a supervisor.
So, I will need to make do with my inbound BRU stamp on this trip.
Now, I did get a passport stamp while visiting the Republic of San Marino, in northern Italy. There, you have to pay for the privilege, 5 Euros. But, you get an actual physical stamp placed in the passport, which is then also stamped with an ink stamper.