Recognition of Montana Death Penalty Vote in Rome

ZENIT - Rome Marks Montana Death Penalty Vote

A Montana state Senate decision to abolish the death penalty was marked in Rome on Monday -- the Colosseum was lit up to celebrate another step toward the end of capital punishment.

The Senate's decision last month still has to pass through the state's House of Representatives and be signed by the governor to become law, but the Community of Sant'Egidio celebrated the 27-23 vote as a victory.

At the initiative of that Catholic lay community, the ancient Roman site for killing Christians is set alight whenever a death sentence is commuted or a government moves toward abolishing the punishment.

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