On the Harm of "General Confession"

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov.

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov

So what to do then? How to confess everyone? And all the people are unknown. They came up with General or Communal Confession. The priest reads the prayers, then reads a list of sins: "We have sinned with pride, lust, and avarice," then: "We have sinned with murder, theft, violence, fornication, and adultery," and all the people stand and say, "We have sinned, Father, in everything!" And then the priest says, "Do you repent of all your sins? If any of you have any other sins that I haven't mentioned, you can come and tell me when I read the prayer of absolution. But since I have listed all the sins, it's better to say nothing." Then the priest stands at the lectern and reads the prayer of absolution, covering everyone with the epitrachelion.

I have experienced the “benefits” of such a General Confession myself many times. I ask some old woman: “Have you been to confession long ago?” – “No, Father, recently. Three weeks ago I confessed at General Confession.” – “Good. Do you have any sins?” – “No, Father. What sins do I have? I don’t have any sins, after all, I confess and go to church.” – “But maybe you have forgotten some sins? Well, for example, have you had abortions?” – “Yes, Father, I have.” – “And how many abortions have you had?” – “Twenty.” – “Have you repented of that?” – “No, Father. And how would I do? I stood at the Communal Confession.” She believes that she has no sins. When you “corner” the parishioners: “Yes, Father! "I'm a sinner, Father, in everything!" but there's no real repentance.

That is, this General Confession is a fiction, and completely unacceptable for a priest. In Soviet times, it could be justified by the times, by persecution. But still, it's unacceptable.

Now, when there are so many communicants on a feast day—400, 600, 800, 1,000—it's impossible for everyone to confess, and it's not necessary. I go to Confession and say, "There are so many people today, it's impossible to confess in detail today. Therefore, those who confessed recently, who don't have any serious, unconfessed sins on their conscience, I bless them to receive Communion." Some old women will come; they can't live without the Epitrachelion. I read them the Prayer of Absolution and that's it. "And if you have any sins, stay. If there's time, then we'll talk." If there's no time left, then you won't receive communion. Then you need to choose a more convenient and favorable time—to come and talk, to confess."

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