General confession is the practice by which a penitent takes up again, in a single act, all the sins of a long period of their life — or of their entire life — instead of limiting themselves to the faults committed since their last confession[1][2]. It is not an eighth sacrament nor a rite apart: it is a particular way of living the one sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, by extending the avowal to a whole past already confessed, or one feared to have been badly confessed[3].
This practice holds a singular place in the Catholic spiritual tradition. Saint Ignatius of Loyola places it at the heart of his Spiritual Exercises, at the end of the "First Week"[4]. Saint Francis de Sales makes it the concrete threshold of the devout life in the Introduction to the Devout Life[5]. Saint Alphonsus Liguori and the popular missionaries see in it the privileged instrument of great conversions[6]. Far from being a marginal devotion, general confession is a classic of the direction of souls.
But it is also a demanding and delicate practice, which can become harmful when misused: repeated endlessly out of scrupulosity, it gnaws at peace instead of giving it. That is why the spiritual masters surround it with precise precautions[7][8].
This article presents general confession as a practice: its exact definition, its two kinds (of necessity and of devotion), its fruits, its great occasions, its preparation, its dangers and its history. For the sacrament itself (institution, matter, form, minister, seal), see Confession; for the preliminary examination, the article Examination of Conscience; for habitual practice, the articles How to Make a Good Confession? and How to Grow Through Regular Confession?.
What is a general confession?
A precise definition
The word "general" here does not mean an absolution given to a crowd (what is called general absolution, reserved for cases of grave necessity[9]), nor a confession made "in bulk". It designates the scope of the avowal: instead of confessing only the sins committed since last time, the penitent embraces an entire period, sometimes their whole existence since the age of reason.
The catechist Francis Spirago gives a classic formula: general confession "embraces all the sins of one's past life, or at least those of a considerable period", and is thus distinguished from ordinary confession, which covers only the interval elapsed[10].
"I speak of a general confession of one's whole life, which indeed I confess is not always absolutely necessary, but which I also consider will be extremely useful to you at this beginning." — Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, ch. XIX[11]
This definition immediately calls for three clarifications, for the term "general confession" is easily misunderstood.
Not the Confiteor
In the liturgy, the Confiteor — the prayer "I confess to Almighty God..." said at the beginning of Mass and at other moments — is also called a "general confession". The Catholic Encyclopedia explicitly defines it as "a general confession of sins"[12]. But that confession is non-sacramental: it is a general avowal of our condition as sinners, without enumeration of faults or sacramental absolution.
| General confession (practice) | The Confiteor | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Act of the sacrament of Penance | Penitential liturgical prayer |
| Content | Detailed avowal of the sins of a period | General acknowledgment of being a sinner |
| Effect | Sacramental absolution | Disposition, forgiveness of venial sins |
| Setting | In the confessional, before the priest | At Mass, at the Office, before Communion[13] |
The two realities bear the same name, but they have neither the same content nor the same effect. This article treats the first: the extended sacramental confession.
Not a scrupulous repetition
General confession is no more the reflex of the anxious penitent who endlessly "redoes" their confessions for fear of not having said everything. That anxious repetition is precisely what the spiritual masters forbid to scrupulous souls[14]. Authentic general confession is a calm, peaceful, one-time act — not rumination.
What this article does not cover
So as not to duplicate neighbouring articles, see:
- the sacrament itself — institution, matter and form, minister, seal, effects — in Confession (sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation);
- preparation through examination, in Examination of Conscience;
- the reparation received from the priest, in The Imposed Penance;
- ordinary and regular practice, in How to Make a Good Confession? and How to Grow Through Regular Confession?.
The two kinds: of necessity and of devotion
Moral tradition clearly distinguishes two cases of general confession: the one that is obligatory because it repairs a defective sacramental past, and the optional one that serves spiritual renewal[15]. Confusing the two is the source of most misunderstandings.
General confession of necessity
A general confession becomes necessary when earlier confessions have been invalid. Absolution then remitted nothing: grave sins remain, and must be taken up again[16].
When is an earlier confession null?
The Council of Trent defined that the penitent must confess all the mortal sins of which they are aware after serious examination: deliberately hiding a grave sin is not confessing, it is "withholding something from divine goodness"[17][18]. Hence the main cases where a confession is null — and even sacrilegious:
- one has concealed out of shame a mortal sin one knew one had to avow;
- one has lied to the confessor or hidden a circumstance changing the species of the sin;
- one confessed without real contrition or purpose of amendment;
- one received absolution when one could not be absolved (for example without willingness to make restitution).
"If the sick man blushes to show his wound to the physician, medicine does not heal what it does not know." — Saint Jerome, quoted by the Catechism (n. 1456)[19]
The obligation to take up everything
When a confession has been null, all the confessions that followed it, so long as the hidden sin is not avowed, likewise remain fruitless: the concealed sin "blocks" grace, and each Communion received afterwards in a state of mortal sin adds a sacrilege[20]. The only way out is a general confession covering the whole compromised period. Spirago puts it bluntly: "A general confession is indispensable when an invalid confession has already been made."[21]
This confession of necessity is nothing to dread when rightly understood: it is a deliverance. It unties in one stroke what sometimes weighed for years, and restores to the penitent the certainty of God's friendship.
General confession of devotion
The other kind repairs no failure of avowal: it takes up sins already validly forgiven, not because they would remain, but for the spiritual profit of the act[22]. It is the general confession recommended at conversions, retreats, life's great thresholds. It is never obligatory; it is "extremely useful"[23].
Pope Benedict XI, in his constitution Inter cunctas (17 February 1304), notes that, even without necessity, "it is not required to confess the same sins again; nevertheless we regard it as salutary to repeat the confession, because of the shame it involves, which is a great part of penance"[24].
| Criterion | Of necessity | Of devotion |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Invalid past confessions | Desire for spiritual renewal |
| Character | Obligatory | Optional, recommended |
| Sins concerned | Mortal sins badly confessed or unconfessed | Faults already forgiven |
| Main fruit | Validity restored, end of sacrilege | Fervour, humility, peace |
| Typical occasion | Discovery of a concealed avowal | Conversion, retreat, state of life |
Why make a general confession?
For the confession of necessity, the reason is obvious: without it, the soul remains in mortal sin. But why recommend a general confession of devotion, when the faults are already forgiven? The saints answer with four fruits.
Self-knowledge and humility
Embracing one's whole past in a single gaze reveals the heart's lasting tendencies — pride, sensuality, cowardice — far better than the fragmented examination of each fortnight. Francis de Sales makes it the first fruit:
"This general confession calls us to self-knowledge, provokes in us a salutary confusion for our past life, makes us admire the mercy of God who waited for us so patiently." — Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, ch. XIX[25]
A keener sorrow and greater merit
Saint Ignatius, in the Spiritual Exercises, lists three advantages of the general confession made at the end of the First Week. The first concerns the quality of repentance:
"Although one who confesses yearly is not obliged to make a general confession, in making it there is more profit and merit, because of the greater actual sorrow felt for all the sins and all the malice of one's whole life." — Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, n. 44[26]
The second advantage, he adds, comes from the fact that, in retreat, "sins and their malice are understood more intimately than at a time when one was not so given to interior things"; and the third, from the better disposition that results for receiving the Eucharist[27].
Peace of conscience and certainty
The sacrament of Penance gives "peace and serenity of conscience, with a most lively consolation of spirit"[28]. General confession carries this fruit to its height: it closes the past. By laying their whole life before God, penitents anticipate in a sense the judgment they will undergo at the end of their existence[29]. They know henceforth that everything has been laid down, and need never return to it. It is this certainty, not forgetfulness, that sets free.
A new beginning
In the history of parish missions, general confession is often the turning point of a conversion. Saint Alphonsus Liguori relates that, during spiritual exercises in Rome, at this two-word sermon — "Forever, forever!" — "many young men of the Roman Seminary made a general confession and changed their lives"[30]. The act seals the break with the past and inaugurates a new life.
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." — First Letter of Saint John 1:8-9[31]
When to make a general confession?
Tradition points to a few great thresholds where the general confession of devotion finds its natural place[32]. Outside these occasions, it need not be repeated.
At the threshold of the devout life
This is the case of Francis de Sales: to one who wants to begin a serious Christian life after years of lukewarmness, he counsels first purifying the soul — hence the chapters on cutting away mortal sins, then affections to sin[33] — and crowning this purgation with a general confession that "calms hearts, rests minds, stirs up good resolutions"[34].
During a spiritual retreat
The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius place general confession at the hinge of the retreat: after the First Week devoted to considering sin and mercy, before entering the contemplation of Christ's life[35]. Still today, many retreats provide this possibility.
Before a change of state of life
Spirago counts among the privileged occasions entry into a new state of life[36]: before marriage, before priestly ordination, before religious vows. One wants to approach the decisive commitment with a wholly clean heart, dragging nothing of the past.
Approaching death
The sick person who feels the end coming often desires to take up their whole life. The Catholic Encyclopedia specifies, however, that this general confession of the dying is not, in itself, obligatory — except where the reasons exist that would make it necessary at any other time of life[37]. Above all, the priest must not impose it on one who no longer has the strength:
"Where the person is incapable of sustained mental effort without grave detriment to declining strength, the priest should have no scruple about contenting himself with incomplete or less precise forms of accusation." — Catholic Encyclopedia, "Preparation for Death"[38]
The passage of Christ to the dying is then prolonged by the eucharistic gift of viaticum.
How to prepare and live it
An expanded examination of conscience
General confession presupposes a broader examination than the ordinary one: one surveys one's life in stages — childhood, adolescence, adulthood — or according to the commandments and the states of life traversed[39]. The Church recommends making this examination "in the light of the Word of God"[40]. For the detailed method, see the article Examination of Conscience; one must guard against turning this examination into anxious inquiry.
Contrition, the heart of the act
The avowal is nothing without contrition — "sorrow of soul and detestation for the sin committed, with the resolution to sin no more in the future"[41]. General confession is the occasion for a contrition embracing a whole life of faults, rising, as far as possible, to perfect sorrow, born of love of God rather than fear of punishment[42].
"Have mercy on me, O God, in your love; according to your great mercy, blot out my sin. [...] Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew and strengthen within me my spirit." — Psalm 50 (51), the Miserere[43]
The role of the confessor
A general confession benefits from being prepared with a confessor or director, who determines its opportuneness, regulates its scope and guarantees its peace[44]. It is he who will judge whether it should be made, and who will recall, if needed, that it is not to be repeated.
Should one write down one's faults?
Many write down, so as to omit nothing, the points to confess. The practice is legitimate and useful for a general confession; but the note must remain a sober memorandum, destroyed afterwards, and never become the support of endless introspection.
Dangers and limits
General confession is a powerful remedy; like every powerful remedy, it can harm if taken at the wrong time. The spiritual masters point out three pitfalls.
The trap of scrupulosity
The gravest danger is scrupulosity. The scrupulous soul, never sure of having said everything, is tempted to multiply general confessions, which aggravate its trouble instead of soothing it. Tradition's instruction is firm:
"Scrupulous persons must be forbidden to make a general confession; for them, the practice of obedience is more salutary." — Francis Spirago, The Catechism Explained[45]
For the scrupulous, the way is not to take up everything again, but to abide by the confessor's judgment and obey him against one's own feeling.
Not endlessly replaying the forgiven past
Apart from necessity, nothing obliges one to reconfess sins already validly absolved[46]. Returning to them by habit, without direction, is doubting in practice the word of absolution and God's faithfulness. The past handed over to God belongs to Him.
Keeping trust in mercy
The proper fruit of general confession is not retrospective anguish but admiration of mercy[47]. The penitent who emerges from it must look ahead, like the prodigal son lifted up by his father:
"This son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found." — Gospel according to Saint Luke 15:24[48]
History and tradition of the practice
Ancient penitential roots
The idea of a solemn taking-up of a whole life of sin has its roots in the penance of the first centuries, when the public sinner long confessed and expiated grave faults before being reconciled[49]. Private and repeatable confession, spread by the Irish monks from the 7th century, made possible a personal and renewable act — the ground on which the general confession of devotion could develop[50].
The Spiritual Exercises (1548)
It is Saint Ignatius of Loyola who fixes its classic form. The Spiritual Exercises, approved by Paul III in 1548, integrate general confession as fruit of the First Week, with its three spiritual advantages[51]. The practice spreads with the Society of Jesus and retreats.
The Introduction to the Devout Life (1609)
Saint Francis de Sales carries it from cloister to world. In the Introduction to the Devout Life, written for lay people, general confession becomes the concrete threshold by which the lukewarm soul enters the devout life, before the solemn "protestation" of serving God[52].
Popular missions
In the 17th-19th centuries, parish missions — preached notably by Saint Alphonsus Liguori and his Redemptorists — make general confession the summit of a week of preaching: there one takes up one's whole life to be done with sin and start afresh[53].
- Early centuriesPublic penance
The grave sinner long confesses and expiates their faults before reconciliation: the first form of a solemn taking-up of one's past life.
- 7th centuryPrivate and repeatable confession
The Irish monks spread individual, repeatable confession, which makes possible a personal act embracing the whole.
- 1548Saint Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises
Approved by Paul III, they place general confession at the end of the First Week, with its three advantages.
- 1609The Introduction to the Devout Life
Saint Francis de Sales offers general confession to all lay people as the threshold of the devout life.
- 17th-19th c.Popular missions
Saint Alphonsus Liguori and the missionaries make general confession the summit of parish missions.
Today
The 1983 Code of Canon Law recalls that "individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the sole ordinary means" of reconciliation after grave fault[54]. Within this framework, general confession remains a living practice: offered in retreats, recommended at conversions and life's great turning points, guided by spiritual direction. Understood according to tradition — peaceful, one-time, trusting — it remains one of the most powerful instruments of spiritual renewal offered to the Christian.
Frequently asked questions
Must I reconfess everything at each confession?
No. Ordinary confession covers only the sins committed since last time. General confession is exceptional: necessary if past confessions were invalid, recommended at certain great thresholds, but never to be repeated out of habit or fear[55].
Does general confession erase sins already forgiven?
Validly absolved sins are already erased: one does not make them disappear "again". Taking them up in a general confession of devotion serves the penitent's repentance, humility and peace, not validity — which was already secured[56].
Is it obligatory before marriage or ordination?
It is not obligatory in itself: what is required before receiving these sacraments is the state of grace, hence a good confession of grave sins. General confession is warmly recommended as preparation, but belongs to counsel, not precept[57].
What if I forget a sin?
A grave sin forgotten in good faith is forgiven with the others; it suffices to mention it at the next confession if it comes back to mind[58]. Such involuntary forgetting does not render the confession invalid and does not, by itself, oblige one to a general confession.
To go further
- Confession (sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation) — the institution, matter and form, minister, seal and effects of the sacrament.
- Examination of Conscience — preparing the avowal in the light of the Word of God.
- The Imposed Penance — the satisfaction received from the priest and its meaning.
- How to Make a Good Confession? — concrete practice, step by step.
- How to Grow Through Regular Confession? — the fruitfulness of frequent confession.
- Eucharistic Adoration — prolonging the grace of forgiveness in adoration.
Notes and References
Francis Spirago (ed. Richard F. Clarke, S.J.), The Catechism Explained, Benziger Brothers, New York, 1899, 3rd part (the means of grace), treatise on the sacrament of Penance, chap. "General Confession", pp. 624-626: § 1, general confession embraces the sins of one's whole past life or of a long period; § 2, it procures "greater self-knowledge, deeper humility, increased tranquillity of conscience"; § 3, it is "indispensable when an invalid confession has already been made" and "advisable for persons entering a new state of life or in danger of death"; "scrupulous persons must be forbidden to make a general confession; for them, the practice of obedience is more salutary". Full text of the chapter: https://bellarmineforum.org/bf_catechism/the-catechism-explained/part-iii-the-means-of-grace/ii-the-sacraments/4-the-sacrament-of-penance/general-confession/ ; TAN Direction relay, "Purification and General Confession": https://tandirection.com/pursuit-of-perfection/purification-and-general-confession/.
1 7 10 14 15 21 32 36 44 45 46 55 56 57Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (1609), Part I, ch. XIX "How to make a general confession": "I speak of a general confession of one's whole life, which indeed I confess is not always absolutely necessary, but which I also consider will be extremely useful to you at this beginning"; it "calls us to self-knowledge, provokes in us a salutary confusion for our past life, makes us admire the mercy of God who waited for us so patiently; it calms our hearts, rests our minds, stirs up good resolutions in us". Reference edition: Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53540/53540-h/53540-h.htm.
2 5 11 23 25 34 47 52Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1456, citing the Council of Trent (DS 1680) and Saint Jerome (In Ecclesiasten 10, 11; PL 23, 1096): obligation to confess all the mortal sins of which one is aware; "if the sick man blushes to show his wound to the physician, medicine does not heal what it does not know"; grave sins forgotten in good faith are remitted and will be submitted to the power of the keys when they come back to mind.
3 16 18 19 58Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, n. 44, "General confession with Communion": three advantages of a general confession made at the end of the First Week (more actual sorrow for one's whole life; more intimate understanding of sin in retreat; better disposition to receive the Eucharist). Translation based on the Mullan edition; text on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ignatius/exercises.xii.iv.html.
4 22 26 27 35 51Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Preparation for Death, 3rd part, 27th consideration ("The Eternity of Hell"), 3rd point ("Eternity is Unchangeable"): from the spiritual exercises of Fr. Paul Segneri as related by Muratori, at Rome, a possessed man questioned on the duration of hell struck a seat answering "Forever, forever!" — "at this great two-word sermon, forever, forever, many students of the Roman Seminary, who were present, made a general confession and changed their lives" (English translation Preparation for Death, control text; local French edition, Benoît's Library).
6 30 53"Preparation for Death", The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4, New Advent: the confession of the dying "need not necessarily be of the kind described as general, unless of course there exist the reasons which would make it obligatory at any other time of life"; when the sick person cannot sustain mental effort without grave detriment, "the priest should have no scruple about contenting himself with incomplete or less precise forms of accusation". Source: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04660c.htm.
8 37 38Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1483, citing the CIC can. 961-962: "general absolution" given to several penitents without prior individual confession is permitted only in cases of grave necessity; it is something quite different from the "general confession" treated here.
9"Confiteor", The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4, Robert Appleton Company, 1908, New Advent: "The Confiteor (so called from its first word, confiteor, I confess) is a general confession of sins; it is used in the Roman rite at the beginning of Mass and on various other occasions as a preparation for the reception of a grace" (divine office at Prime and Compline, Communion outside Mass, etc.). Source: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04222a.htm.
12 13Council of Trent, session XIV (1551), Doctrina de sacramento paenitentiae, ch. 5 De confessione and can. 7 (DS 1679-1680; 1707): necessity by divine law of confessing all the mortal sins of which one is aware after diligent examination, including the circumstances changing the species of the sin. Text on Papal Encyclicals Online: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/council-of-trent/fourteenth-session.htm.
17Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1457, citing the Council of Trent (DS 1683; 1708) and the CIC can. 989, 916: obligation of annual confession of grave sins; necessity of absolution before receiving Communion in a state of mortal sin.
20Benedict XI, constitution Inter cunctas (17 February 1304): after recalling that penitents confessed by a religious are not bound to repeat their confession to their own priest, the pope adds — "Though it is not necessary to confess the same sins over again, nevertheless we regard it as salutary to repeat the confession, because of the shame it involves, which is a great part of penance" (Denzinger-Bannwart, Enchiridion, n. 470). Passage reported by the Catholic Encyclopedia, "The Sacrament of Penance": https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm.
24Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1468, citing the Roman Catechism II, 5, 18 and the Council of Trent (DS 1674): reconciliation with God brings "peace and serenity of conscience, with a most lively consolation of spirit".
28Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1470, citing Jn 5:24: through the sacrament, the penitent anticipates in a sense the judgment they will undergo at the end of their earthly life.
29First Letter of Saint John 1:8-9, liturgical translation (AELF): "If we say we have no sin... If we acknowledge our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive." Source: https://www.aelf.org/bible/1Jn/1.
31Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, ch. VI "Of the first purgation, which is that of mortal sins" and ch. VII "Of the second purgation, which is that of affections to sin": the purgation of the soul precedes and prepares the general confession of ch. XIX. Source: Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53540/53540-h/53540-h.htm.
33Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1454: the examination of conscience made "in the light of the Word of God" (Decalogue, Sermon on the Mount, apostolic teachings).
39 40Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1451, citing the Council of Trent (DS 1676): contrition is "sorrow of soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution to sin no more in the future".
41Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1452, citing the Council of Trent (DS 1677): "perfect" contrition (of charity); it obtains forgiveness of mortal faults if it includes the resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.
42Psalm 50 (51), the Miserere, official liturgical translation (AELF): "Have mercy on me, O God, in your love... Create in me a clean heart, O God." Source: https://www.aelf.org/bible/Ps/50.
43Gospel according to Saint Luke 15:11-24, parable of the prodigal son, liturgical translation (AELF): "This son of mine was dead, and has come back to life." Source: https://www.aelf.org/bible/Lc/15.
48Edward Hanna, "The Sacrament of Penance", The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 11, New Advent, 1911: development of public penance in the first centuries, then of private and repeatable confession spread by the penitentials and the Irish missionaries (Saint Columbanus, d. 615). Source: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm.
49 50Code of Canon Law (1983), can. 960: "Individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the sole ordinary means by which a member of the faithful conscious of grave sin is reconciled with God and with the Church." Source: Vatican.va.
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