Why do catholics confess their sins to a priest ?

Question

if i'm not mistaken a priest is just as human as you and i,and if you need to talk to god all you need to do is get on your knees and pray and ask him for forgiveness.....
if you read the bible there is not one place were it says you need to go to someone else to talk to him...

Answer 1

The Catholic Church believes that "Only God forgives sin."

When a penitent person asks God for forgiveness, his (or her) sins are immediately forgiven.

Catholics also believe that when someone sins they not only hurt their relationship with God, they also injure the entire church, the body of Christ.

Jesus said, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,"Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (Luke 20:22-23)

Oral confessing of sins is recommended over and over in both the Old and New Testaments:
+ James 5:16
+ Acts 19:18
+ Matthew 3:5-6
+ Mark 1:5
+ 1 Timothy 6:12
+ 1 John 1:9
+ Numbers 5:6-7
+ Nehemiah 9:2
+ Sirach 4:26

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation with a priest ordained in the name of Jesus Christ not only reconciles the sinner to God but with the entire church, including you and me.

Remember all sacraments are encounters with God. This sacrament is a healing encounter between God and the penitent.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1422 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt2.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Are all of our sins—past, present, and future—forgiven once and for all when we become Christians? Not according to the Bible or the early Church Fathers. Scripture nowhere states that our future sins are forgiven; instead, it teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).

The means by which God forgives sins after baptism is confession: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Minor or venial sins can be confessed directly to God, but for grave or mortal sins, which crush the spiritual life out of the soul, God has instituted a different means for obtaining forgiveness—the sacrament known popularly as confession, penance, or reconciliation.

This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf. Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power "glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8; note the plural "men"). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).

Since it is not possible to confess all of our many daily faults, we know that sacramental reconciliation is required only for grave or mortal sins—but it is required, or Christ would not have commanded it.

Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the early Church, publicly known sins (such as apostasy) were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins. Still, confession was not just something done in silence to God alone, but something done "in church," as the Didache (A.D. 70) indicates.

Penances also tended to be performed before rather than after absolution, and they were much more strict than those of today (ten years’ penance for abortion, for example, was common in the early Church).

But the basics of the sacrament have always been there, as the following quotations reveal. Of special significance is their recognition that confession and absolution must be received by a sinner before receiving Holy Communion, for "[w]hoever . . . eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27).

Answer 3

Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of confession on Easter Sunday night. As St. John describes the event, “the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and showed them His hands and His side. The disciples were filled with joy when they say the Lord. And He said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.’ After saying this, He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. For those whose sins you retain, they are retained’” (John 20:19-23).

As the Catholic Church explains these words, Christ gave the Apostles and their successors the right to forgive sins if they so judge the penitent worthy and the corresponding right to retain sins or refrain from absolving if the sinner is not sincerely repentant.

The implications of this power of judging whether to absolve or not are at the heart of the sacrament of Penance. By these words, Christ indicated that before receiving absolution, the sinner must disclose his sins. He must confess what he did wrong.

This means that auricular confession, where the penitent speaks his sins and the priest hears his sins, is of divine origin. The Church did not invent the confession of sins. It is a divine law from which no one on earth has the right to dispense. Auricular (or audible) confession is part of divine revelation. It is an unchangeable article of the Catholic faith

Answer 4

I know. I totally agree with you. That catholic practice of connfessing your sins to a priest is bogus and antithetical to the Bible.

Answer 5

You are not very well informed people!
Christians must confess their sins, unless they want forgiveness.
The bible says so.
I'm Muslim, and in Islam is a sin to confess your sins to others than God.
I suppose that confessing stuff is just some church propaganda. We cannot pretend God Almighty is deaf and blind and is not acknowledged with our sins.

Answer 6

Jesus Christ Granted the Apostles His Authority to Forgive Sins
John 20:21 - before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins.

John 20:22 - the Lord "breathes" on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord "breathes" divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.

John 20:23 - Jesus says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear.

Matt. 9:8 - this verse shows that God has given the authority to forgive sins to "men." Hence, those Protestants who acknowledge that the apostles had the authority to forgive sins (which this verse demonstrates) must prove that this gift ended with the apostles. Otherwise, the apostles' successors still possess this gift. Where in Scripture is the gift of authority to forgive sins taken away from the apostles or their successors?

Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:10 - Christ forgave sins as a man (not God) to convince us that the "Son of man" has authority to forgive sins on earth.

Luke 5:24 - Luke also points out that Jesus' authority to forgive sins is as a man, not God. The Gospel writers record this to convince us that God has given this authority to men. This authority has been transferred from Christ to the apostles and their successors.

Matt. 18:18 - the apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church.

John 20:22-23; Matt. 18:18 - the power to remit/retain sin is also the power to remit/retain punishment due to sin. If Christ's ministers can forgive the eternal penalty of sin, they can certainly remit the temporal penalty of sin (which is called an "indulgence").

2 Cor. 2:10 - Paul forgives in the presence of Christ (some translations refer to the presences of Christ as "in persona Christi"). Some say that this may also be a reference to sins.

2 Cor. 5:18 - the ministry of reconciliation was given to the ambassadors of the Church. This ministry of reconciliation refers to the sacrament of reconciliation, also called the sacrament of confession or penance.

James 5:15-16 - in verse 15 we see that sins are forgiven by the priests in the sacrament of the sick. This is another example of man's authority to forgive sins on earth. Then in verse 16, James says “Therefore, confess our sins to one another,” in reference to the men referred to in verse 15, the priests of the Church.

1 Tim. 2:5 - Christ is the only mediator, but He was free to decide how His mediation would be applied to us. The Lord chose to use priests of God to carry out His work of forgiveness.

Lev. 5:4-6; 19:21-22 - even under the Old Covenant, God used priests to forgive and atone for the sins of others.

Answer 7

We confess our sins to God, THROUGH the priest. We are not just telling the priest our sins, we are actually telling them to God. And confession IS in the Bible. Jesus said to the apostles "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" John 20:23. He gave them that power. VERY biblical!

Answer 8

They believe that Christ gave Peter and the apostles the right to forgive sins. The apostles then passed on this power to their successors of which the priests are part. I personally believe the verses below just means they should only consider as forgiven those sins that God has forgiven. When I need my sins forgiven I go directly to Jesus.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Joh 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Answer 9

I would like to bring a few points to the forefront...

Eph 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the richness of his grace;". So we have forgiveness of sins due to His blood being shed for us.

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" Again, God did not tell me to go to my priest/pastor in order for me to be forgiven... He told me to just confess ~ Greek 'homologeo' which is to assent, acknowledge, confess, and promise.

Rom 8:34 tells us that Jesus is at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us. Note: all of Rom 8 tells us of we are children of God.

2 Cor 5:19 says our tresspasses are not imputed onto us....

John 5:24 says that we shall not come into condemnation if we believe on Him, and we are passed from death unto life

Rom 5:17 tells me I have received the gift of righteousness ~ Jesus died for my sins, and I have been made righteous. I sin, I repent to God and immeadiately receive the forgiveness He has made available.

I believe that what was charged to the apostles is what is charged to me to also do... I have been charged with the ministry of reconciliation, I have been sent to preach the gospel, to cleanse the lepers, to heal the sick. Whatever I bind on earth is bound in heaven! Jesus charged the apostles with tasks and abilities (and more) and these are the same things I myself am charged with. I have been made a king and priest, glory to God. We are in the New Testament, which came into function after the death, burial and ressurection of Christ ~ I can go boldly to the throne of grace... I don't need a priest/pastor etc. to intercede everytime I need my sins forgiven, or to pray on my behalf, the same as I do not perform the sacrifices or burnt offerings of the Old Testament.

I would love to be corrected if I am wrong, but I have not come across scripture that says I must confess all my sins to the church priest/pastor in order to be forgiven of my sins...

Thank the almighty God that I have been planted in a ministry that teaches me to seek out the truth for myself and to be responsible for seeking out knowledge of my inheritance in Christ after being born again.

If anyone could show me where God says that I must seek out a priest/pastor etc. to confess to in order for my sins to be forgiven, please send on those details to me. Thanx, God bless.

Answer 10

Because they are deceived, pray for their spiritual awakening, for the Lord says he will call his children out of Babylon