The Catholic priest has authority and powers which the layman does not have. “…from the cradle to the grave the priest is ever beside the faithful, a guide, a solace, a minister of salvation and dispenser of grace and blessing.”"…as the Angelic Doctor teaches: “To fulfill the duties of Holy Orders, common goodness does not suffice; but excelling goodness is required; that they who receive Orders and are thereby higher in rank than the people, may also be higher in holiness.”"
“The priest is the minister of Christ, an instrument, that is to say, in the hands of the Divine Redeemer. He continues the work of the redemption in all its world-embracing universality and divine efficacy, that work that wrought so marvelous a transformation in the world. Thus the priest, as is said with good reason, is indeed “another Christ”; for, in some way, he is himself a continuation of Christ.”
These are the teachings of the infallible head of the Catholic Church, Pope Pius XI given on December 20, 1935:
papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/P11CATHO.HTM
More is expected of the Catholic priest than is expected of the layperson, because the Catholic priest has a higher rank than that of the layperson. As the infallible Pope has written here: It is said with good reason that the priest is another Christ.