16th Station?

[VeniteAdoremus]

I know the Ressurection is sometimes added as the fifteenth Station of the Cross... but now I heard about a sixteenth station that is sometimes used. Is that Ascension? And who decides whether to use 14, 15 or 16 stations?

Thanks!

[Cam42]

[quote name='VeniteAdoremus' post='1112636' date='Nov 6 2006, 10:38 AM']
I know the Ressurection is sometimes added as the fifteenth Station of the Cross... but now I heard about a sixteenth station that is sometimes used. Is that Ascension? And who decides whether to use 14, 15 or 16 stations?

Thanks!
[/quote]


There is nothing dictating what must or must not be a station. Basically they came into existence during Muslim persecutions in the Holy Land as a way to bring Jerusalem and the Via Dolorosa to the various churches.

The 14 traditional stations are what most people know, however, there have been as many as 39 and as few as 11.

Also, JPII also has composed several versions which depart from the traditional stations.

However, as a matter of consistency the Church retains the 14 that are commonly known, just for that reason, consistency.