Dear John,

Technically there is nothing wrong with writing down sins and burning the paper.

However, this is not "Confession" and if the pastor implies or says ANYTHING such that this takes the place of sacramental absolution, then he is lying to his congregation and possibly putting their souls at risk.

Furthermore, your pastor may or may not have offered a general absolution.  I believe the absolution would have been valid. (I'm not sure about that depending on the situation) However IN ANY CASE it would have been a serious violation or Church law which restricts the use of general absolution to cases of immediate danger of death, for example a large number of soldiers about to die in battle, a sinking boat or a crashing airplane.  Also, those who receive general absolution should see a confessor individually as soon as possible once the danger of death is no longer present.  They are OBLIGATED to confess the sins with a priest within one year.  (see Rite of Penance, nos 31-34 and Code of Canon Law, can. 961-963)

If your pastor did indeed offer general absolution, in my personal opinion this is an offence worth reporting once you've talked it over with your pastor and are 100% sure that it happened.

Mr. Slavek