On Tuesday, 300 cities joined with Rome, Italy to say "no" to the death penalty. The chain of public events worldwide, "Cities for Life -- Cities Against the Death Penalty," was promoted by the lay Community of Sant'Egidio.

The Rome-based Catholic group has long focused part of its international involvement on the struggle against the death penalty. Sant'Egidio is also promoting the "Appeal for a Universal Moratorium," which has obtained some 5 million adherents in 150 countries, giving rise to an interreligious front against capital punishment.

In 2002, Sant'Egidio launched the first International Day of Cities Against the Death Penalty, on Nov. 30 of that year. [We wrote about the 2003 event here.] The date was chosen as a reminder of the first abolition of capital punishment in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany on Nov. 30, 1786.

Among the cities supporting the campaign against the death penalty are Amsterdam, New York, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Hiroshima and Paris. Here is the photo gallery of the events.