Q. I have heard about a “general confession.” What is the difference between that and the regular confession I participate in with my parish priest? Who can hear a “general confession” and how does one go about having one? I was told everyone should do one in their lifetime.
A. As every penitent knows, the Rite of Penance begins with the penitent identifying how long it has been since his or her last confession. Saying how long it has been does not impact the validity of the confession (if you are off by a day or two, your sins are still forgiven. God does not punish us for having a bad memory), but is meant to help the priest understand if the penitent is living from mortal sin to mortal sin (or is scrupulous), and for the penitent to reflect on how strong a grasp sin has on his or her life.
When we make our confession, we are confessing the sins we committed since the last time we went to confession. We do not need to re-confess sins that were already forgiven, because they were forgiven. God has forgotten them and so should we. We can try to learn from them, reflecting on what led us to sin and why, and what we are going to do next time we find ourselves tempted in the same way. But after that, we need to let them go. We are not defined by our sinfulness, but by our identity as the sons and daughters of the Father.
It can happen, though, that a person has committed a very serious sin. He or she feels terrible about it, even though it was confessed, so the person confesses it again and again. This is not unusual, but re-confessing a sin is not going to help. In these situations, the person does not need God’s forgiveness (He has already forgiven them), but his or her own. People need to forgive themselves and to find healing for the hurt their sins caused themselves, or another. This happens through prayer, not confession.
Keeping all of this in mind, we can now turn to the idea of a “general confession.” A general confession is the devotional practice of confessing all the mortal sins that a person has committed in his or her life. As far as I know, relying on the guidance of priests more knowledgeable about this than I am, the practice of making a general confession is rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The purpose is NOT to re-confess sins in case they were not forgiven, but rather to take stock of our lives and our sinfulness and see that, despite our sinfulness, God continues to love us. A general confession is an opportunity to praise God for his mercy, not to focus on our sins.
Typically, a general confession is made just prior to a significant moment in one’s life. Many priests and religious are encouraged to make a general confession prior to their ordination or vows. People might consider making a general confession before they get married, or reach a certain age.
There are no “rules” for when to make a general confession, because there is no obligation to make one. Every Catholic does not need to make one in his or her life. If someone struggles with scrupulosity, then that person should definitely NOT make one. Again, the whole point is to reflect on God’s mercy, not our sins or re-confessing sins “just to be sure.” We do not want to sin against God’s mercy by discounting His willingness or ability to forgive us.
If someone feels that it would be spiritually beneficial to make a general confession, for the purposes of reflecting on God’s mercy in his or her life, that person should not go to normal confession times at his or her parish or a neighboring parish to do it. General confessions take a long time and should be scheduled with a priest outside of a normal confession time. Penitents should also make clear to the priest that they want to make a general confession, not just go to confession, so the priest knows what to expect and can plan accordingly.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
