Colosseum Used by Death Penalty Foes

With the blessing of Pope John Paul II, the ancient Colosseum in Rome, where Christians were thrown to the lions and gladiators fought to the death, has become a symbol for foes of capital punishment.

Starting last week and continuing throughout the year 2000, the amphitheater will be illuminated for 48 hours each time a death sentence is suspended or commuted or the death penalty is abolished anywhere in the world.

The opening ceremony Sunday night marked the decision of Albania to do away with capital punishment. Forty spotlights placed inside the Colosseum cast a golden glow into the nighttime sky.

The pope, an outspoken opponent of capital punishment, commended the project in an address to pilgrims at St. Peter’s Square.

Noting the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church teaches that there are very few if any cases in which the death penalty can be justified, John Paul said Holy Year 2000 is the perfect occasion to “promote throughout the world more mature forms of respect for life and the dignity of every person.”

“I therefore renew my appeal to all leaders to reach an international consensus on the abolition of the death penalty,” he said.

John Paul has issued several appeals to U.S. governors to commute death sentences. But the number of executions in the United States this year--96 by mid-December--was the highest since the Supreme Court allowed states to resume capital punishment in 1976.