I did a general confession question the other day with a sede priest since I wasn't sure about all my old NO confessions.

Father went down the line and asked me yes or no to a number of sins. When I said "yes" however, he did not ask me the follow up question "how many times." Is this the typical protocol in a general confession?

I am worried I need to re-confess the exact number of times.

CC23, That's how I remember the general confession that I made many years ago (before the Sacrament of my Matrimony).  I remember being so relieved that it was much easier than what I had anticipated due to the method that the priest used with me.  It has now been far too many years for me to remember if the priest used the method that you describe, but I believe it was certainly similar since I had dreaded a general confession and was quite nervous and the priest did help me by asking me some questions.  I had felt that I had examined my conscience thoroughly since this was at the end of a retreat, but as I said above, the priest made it easier than what I had anticipated.  

I'm so glad to hear of your wonderful news.  May you have a very blessed Advent.  You are in our prayers.  
ora pro me

I actually just made a general confession today as we're having a mission right now. No questions were personally asked me by the priest as all of the pertinent info including instructions on each of the commandments had been presented in his sermons over the past few days.

From my notes of two days ago:

What to confess?
1. Species of sin -- this would be a level beyond simply stating which commandment was broken.
2. Number of times is required for mortal sins.
   - May approximate if truly unknown.
   - Acceptable is X times per week/month for X number months/years.
   - Also, committed sin for X period of time. (Ex: hated person for 5 years)
3. Any circuмstances which change the nature of the sin.
    Ex: Stealing from the church as that would be 2 sins rather than just one.


HOWEVER! I am NOT saying you should re-confess. If the priest has absolved you, move on.

I had a general confession one time by a priest and it is to be reserved for times of emergency. It is pretty much going through the Ten Commandments for lack of better description and the way asked is a bit better than "Have you had any other idols before God?" but you get the drift.

A general confession is absolutely legitimate--again from what I understood/understand in times of emergency. And we had one with this incident in question if you fear your life is in danger or if you have not had a confession in so long that you can not remember your sins its a way to gather up all that can be forgiven in one fell swoop.

I'm not sure why songbird seems to be so against it. Just because songbird has never 'heard' of general confession 'in his/her day' doesn't mean it didn't exist; that's ludicrous. I never heard of a certain philosophical thought until today--but because I never did before now means it didn't exist, right? Of course not.

It is better to err on side of caution for your soul than have eternal regret. If someone is so scrupulous that they forego a possible option to have a general confession because they do not believe that priest is valid in a dire time of need--what do you say to God when He asks you "I gave you a priest when you needed it but you rejected him, and thus Me?" Frankly sometimes common sense is not so common, heh? Indeed we may have had confessions from invalid priests. However I can not at anytime believe that God would hold that against me--I do see how Satan can use that against a person if they suffer from a severe case of scrupulosity by creating doubt that previous confessions weren't 'good'. And create a sense of anxiety instead of the peace, relief and thankfulness after receiving the sacrament of Confession.

For more info about general confession in a non-emergent situation, download this file and jump to 25 minutes. General confession is encouraged during Ignation retreats.