…I do think that needing to go and speak to someone about your sins will help you not repeat them and feel truly sorry for them, but I don’t know why it has to be a priest and why he has the power to FORGIVE.
It’s that way because Jesus said so. That Jesus established such a priesthood is supported by the Bible and by all of the historical evidence. That the priests would have the authority to forgive sin is a conclusion that may readily be arrived at through biblical typology. And in the entire history of Christendom virtually no one denied it until after the Reformation.
…I would be much more open to the idea if confession was encouraged because it strengthens one’s relationship with God and community and the priest was seen as a mentor and helper instead of someone who can actually forgive your sins…
It’s all of those.
This is posted on the Catholic Encyclopedia at :
The Sacrament of Penance is the ordinary means appointed by
Christ for the remission of sin. Man indeed is free to obey or disobey, but once he has sinned, he must seek pardon not on conditions of his own choosing but on those which God has determined, and these for the Christian are embodied in the Sacrament of Penance.
No Catholic believes that a priest simply as an individual man, however pious or learned, has power to forgive sins. This power belongs to God alone; but He can and does exercise it through the ministration of men. Since He has seen fit to exercise it by means of this sacrament, it cannot be said that the Church or the priest interferes between the soul and God; on the contrary, penance is the removal of the one obstacle that keeps the soul away from God.
It is not true that for the Catholic the mere “telling of one’s sins” suffices to obtain their forgiveness. Without sincere sorrow and purpose of amendment, confession avails nothing, the pronouncement of absolution is of no effect, and the guilt of the sinner is greater than before.
What follows is a summary of Chapter One of “Frequent Confession: It’s Place in the Spiritual Life”, by Benedict Baur. I highly recommend the book:
A person may go to confession because he is guilty of various weaknesses and bad habits, and strugles with his inordinate desires and his self-love. He wishes to purify his soul from every stain of sin, and to keep it pure and to keep his will directed toward God. He seeks inner purification, strength of will, and new strength to strive after perfect union with Christ.
There are other means by which venial sins are forgiven, however when we go to confession we receive a Sacrament. The merits of the death of Christ are applied to those who have sinned after Baptism; this action falls upon our aversion from sin, and elevates us.
This grace is the strengthening and deepening of the supernatural life that already exists in our souls, and an increase in our love for God. It stimulates our will to acts of love of God and of contrition for our sins.
This grace not only blots out sin, but also undoes its evil effects on our souls more fully than when venial sins are forgiven outside of confession. It cures the soul from the weakness that follows venial sin, from the weariness and coldness toward the things of God, and from the inclination toward worldliness. It delivers the soul from its reawakened inordinate inclinations and instincts.
It does all of this by the power of Christ.
An important advantage of sacramental confession is that it engenders a more careful examination of conscience and a more sincere attitude of contrition than we are inclined to make when we make use of other means of confession. Indeed, this is an essential part of the sacrament, and the measure of the effect of the sacrament is determined by it. It depends on our personal attitude toward our sins and on our turning back to Christ and to God. In the sacrament of Penance our personal acts of penance do not remain purely personal but are linked with the sufferings and death of Christ, from whom the power of the sacrament comes.
Another advantage to frequent confession is that our sins are confessed to the Priest in his capacity as representative of Christ, and thus, in a sense, to the Church and the entire Christian community. We do not need to rely on our own subjective feeling as to whether or not our sins have “really” been forgiven.
Frequent confession looks not only backward to our past failings, but forward to the future. It aims at the positive goal of strengthening our will in our struggle to acquire Christian virtue, to become pure and pleasing in God’s sight, and to make the spirit reign over the passions and weaknesses of the old man. It helps to foster a Christlike disposition, hatred of everything that displeases God, a desire to make satisfaction for our sins, and a readiness to accept all of the sacrifices and sufferings that the Lord may aloow to come upon us.
