Why must Catholics confess their sins to a priest?

[Gorgias]

It is Christ who forgives.

“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Who is it who forgives? The priest. Does this action have merely human effects? Nope; Christ assures them that He forgives, based on their action of forgiveness.

The priest in this case is acting officially, and so “takes the place of Christ.” Otherwise, where would the grace to forgive come from?

The grace comes from Christ, of course, and flows through the action of the priest, who has been given the authority to forgive sins by Christ. “I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is different than “Christ absolves you of your sins.”

(Perhaps we’re picking nits? Forgiveness of sins is a divine action; strictly speaking, only God can forgive sins. However, in Reconciliation, it is the action of the priest that has the effect of the divine forgiveness of sin.)

 

[guiltyofdoubt]

Wow… a lot of replies and I appreciate them. I certainly see the Catholic point of view on these issues and understand the vigorous defense of those beliefs about confession. I am just not sure I will ever truly feel the same way.

Before, when I was away from the Church for a long period, I used to have discussions with a friend (who was an Evangelical…sadly he passed last year) about how Faith can’t be faked. You can go to Mass (or Church) every week, and say all the right things, but if there was God (which I do believe there is), then He would know your heart, and your doubts, and your questions…and your lack of true Faith. I felt at the time that there were so many religions, you could never say what was right and what was wrong. I have since returned to my Christian beliefs in which I was raised, but some of the feelings I had in the past remain.

I am searching for God. I am hoping for the “light switch” to come on. I know that the Graces of the Sacraments should help in this regard, at least by Catholic teaching. Yet even though I have been faithfully going to Mass, going to RCIA, and participating in my Church in every way except confession and receiving the Eucharist, I still have nagging doubts about what the Truth is.

 

[rcwitness]

Because that’s not what Scripture calls for! Is there any Scripture that you can point to, that you would say that demonstrates this approach?

Acts 8:22

The right to regulate the sacraments belongs to the Church; it is through this authority that the Church sets its discipline for the sacraments.

This is True

We are to pray to God directly all the time!

The Sacrament of Confession is for a two fold forgiveness. Forgiven in the Mystical Body and forgiven in Christ. It is directly to God. God is present there. Jesus asked Saul, " Why do you persecute me?" And, “whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.”

A contrite heart is heard by God through Jesus. We do not have a relationship with Jesus apart from our relationship with His Mystical Body, the Church.

Peace
Michael

 

[SPH1]

True. But again, why must sins be specifically enumerated? Just because the Church says so? What is the reason? I posed the question to my Priest, and he said its so we know what to forgive, but God also knows what to forgive, and besides, all sin is forgivable through Christ and His Sacrifice! Do Priests ever say “No, you are not forgiven”? Not if you repent, they don’t. So it stands to reason that it could be done in Mass, without specific enumeration.

My understanding that venial sins are forgiven at Mass, whereas mortal sins require the sacrament of reconciliation.

You are correct in that “confessing directly to God” is often easier than doing it with another person involved (God is always in the confessional…a point which non-Catholics seem to forget or deny.) You see, when it’s just “me and God and my bible” one is always on the right path for sure…right?

In general, this “confessing directly to God” thing I find a little irrating perhaps on several levels, but one being that it assumes a certainty in its outcome that may not be warranted. In the confessional, one knows that God heard them and that they are absolved.

 

[seaton2005]

I find not such a requirement in the Bible. As such, I find that a man may confess and be absolved of his sins by speaking directly with God.

It’s up to the individual. I had a bad experience at a confession a few years ago (the priest was out of line). I swore I would never go back.

 

[PRmerger]

It’s up to the individual. I had a bad experience at a confession a few years ago (the priest was out of line). I swore I would never go back.

I am sorry that happened to you, but it is, frankly, irrelevant that you had a bad experience.

It doesn’t change the fact that you must confess your sins to a priest in order to have your mortal sins forgiven.

What you are doing is like a kindergartner saying, “I had a bad time at school today. So I am never going back again!”

 

[Protector]

Cathoholic;11752909] Protector. You said:

Quoterotector.
Again, you are falsely accusing me of:- . . . .
. . . . “try(ing) to dispense with Confession to Priests”

We do seem to be going around in circles, dear friend in Christ. Far be it from me to try to dispense with Confession to priests. I have said to you in previous posts that it is neither the topic, nor my agenda. All that I am attempting to do is to inform the OP, and any other persons with a similar query - "Why must Catholics confess their sins to a priest? " that the Holy Scriptures tell us that we may confess our sins directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. I further posted to you,

"… there is no reason why Catholics should not confess their sins to a priest if they so desire, as to any other person in accordance with James 5:16 :-

Quote:
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

I then went on to qualify that statement by saying,

The problem however, arises when it is made obligatory on the basis that the Apostles were able to replicate the Breath of God by the laying-on of hands and thereby passing on their greater Spiritual powers to a successor.

I added further comment (an extract from a published work by Benjamin Camfield) which illustrates the significance of the transfer of Spiritual powers by the Breath of God,

Quote:
“And therefore, saith he, when our Blessed Saviour would communicate his Spirit to his Disciples, he did it with Insufflation, breathing on them, thereby to signifie, se Divinum & de suo quiddam illis contribuere *." Benjamin Camfield, A theological discourse of angels and their ministries… (etc) (London, 1678) 184-185. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). *

and drawing a conclusion from that as follows,

So, in asserting that the Apostles were able to transfer their greater powers to successors (Apostolic Succession) it is inferred that not only were the Apostles “partly divine”, but also the Roman Catholic Priesthood is similarly “partly divine” and that it has been enabled to “cast out devils, forgive or retain sins, raise the dead, etc, etc.

“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” I John 2:5

Again a short extract of commentary by John Gill (Theologian)

“An holy priesthood; in allusion to the priests under the law, who were set apart, and sanctified for that office; **but now, under the Gospel, all the saints are priests unto God, and are all appointed and directed
** to offer up spiritual sacrifices: their whole selves, souls, and bodies, as a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice; their prayers and praises, and all good works done in faith, and from love, and to the glory of God;”

OK. So you are saying Confession to Priests is necessary? Are you agreeing with me?

No Cathoholic, I am NOT agreeing with you. To my way of thinking millions of Catholics derive great comfort from confession to a Catholic priest, so of course **I **would ENCOURAGE them to continue doing it. And in a round-about way one supposes that they are confessing their sins to God, because God is omnipresent, omniscient and just. However, my objective is to bring to their attention the wonderful news that they can confess their sins directly to the Father, claiming the Blood of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our mediator.

I know that this post is not going to satisfy you Cathoholic, but I feel I have answered the OP’s question and can say no more about the subject without dragging us all off topic.

God Bless.

Protector.

 

[PRmerger]

that the Holy Scriptures tell us that we may confess our sins directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

What verse is that again?

 

[Gorgias]

Gorgias:

Because that’s not what Scripture calls for! Is there any Scripture that you can point to, that you would say that demonstrates this approach?

Acts 8:22

Acts 8:24

A couple of thoughts: first of all, forgiveness of sins must always be preceded by repentance! In the story of Simon, we see that he’s just committed the sin of attempting to pay for God’s grace; he hasn’t repented, so Peter implores him to repent and pray for forgiveness. Only once Simon has repented is forgiveness a possibility!

Second, once Simon has repented of this sin, what’s his response? “OK, thanks… I’ll go home and pray for forgiveness now!”…? NO! Rather, he turns to the apostle and asks his prayers for forgiveness!

Finally, we don’t see forgiveness in this story at all. Simon has shown imperfect contrition (i.e., he doesn’t want to be punished) for this sin, but has he repented of the “bitter gall” with which he’s filled? Is he still “in the bonds of iniquity”? If so, then forgiveness is still not possible, by Peter or anyone!

So, I think I could make a very good case that this passage does not demonstrate that a simple prayer to God is what forgives sins…

 

[stewstew03]

…
To my way of thinking millions of Catholics derive great comfort from confession to a Catholic priest, so of course **I **would ENCOURAGE them to continue doing it. And in a round-about way one supposes that they are confessing their sins to God, because God is omnipresent, omniscient and just.

This is quite condescending, though perhaps that is not your intention.

However, my objective is to bring to their attention the wonderful news that they can confess their sins directly to the Father, claiming the Blood of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our mediator.

You seem quite proud of yourself, but why should anyone listen to your “wonderful news”? What is your authority by which Catholics (or anyone else) should be convinced of what you say? [Please don’t cite “John Gill” as your authority].

God Bless.

Did you just offer a blessing from God? This seems contradictory to your “we-don’t-need-a-mediator-only-God” paradigm.

 

[Gorgias]

the Holy Scriptures tell us that we may confess our sins directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. I further posted to you,

"there is no reason why Catholics should not confess their sins to a priest if they so desire, as to any other person in accordance with James 5:16 :-

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Protector,

I’m confused. You state that Scripture tells us that “we may confess our sins directly to God”, and then you cite Scripture in an attempt to bolster your claim. Yet, your Scripture reference doesn’t say “confess your sins directly to God” – it says “confess your faults to one another”!

There are two significant problems here, that I would like you to address:

First, your assertion of confessing directly to God fails, if it relies on your quoted Scripture passage. James doesn’t call for confession to God, but confession to one another! Are you saying then, that Scripturally speaking, we should confess to one another and then ask each other to pray directly to God? 'Cause that’s a whole 'nother thing, and leads to a completely different set of problems!

Second, the remedy that confession to one another seeks isn’t forgiveness of sins, but healing! These are two distinct goals, and cannot be conflated! Forgiveness of sins speaks to absolution from past acts, while healing speaks to being made whole in the present for the sake of the future! After all, when Jesus was presented with the blind and the lame, He did both things – not only one – and when he did them, it was obvious that the two were distinct actions! See Mark chapter 2 – Christ healed and He forgave sins, and these were totally distinct actions on His part; Christ made quite a point of asserting that the two were not the same thing (although they both pointed to His divinity)! In the Scripture passage you reference, however, James speaks only about healing, not forgiveness! Could it be that James was ignorant of the healing of the paralytic? Could it be that he was unaware of the distinction between ‘healing’ and ‘forgiveness’? After all, there were many who were ‘miracle healers’ in Jesus’ day; what set Jesus apart was His divine ability to forgive sins! (After all, the Pharisees realized that this amounted to a declaration of divinity, and crucified Jesus for his ‘blasphemy against God’!) Would James, as a devout Jewish Christian, have missed this distinction? Hardly…

So, given that your post attempted to demonstrate that confession to a priest is unnecessary and that we are instructed to go directly to God… but given that your post seems to fail to demonstrate either of these assertions… do you have any alternate Scripture citations that you would like to place before us as proof of your assertions?

Blessings,
G.

 

[MacQ]

I find not such a requirement in the Bible. As such, I find that a man may confess and be absolved of his sins by speaking directly with God.

Are you really catholic Joe?
How exactly did you “find” that one could be absolved…just curious. Sounds like you told yourself that.

Don’t mean to be harsh, but:

If you are catholic and have celebrated the rite (of reconciliation), you would understand how different it is than simply privately “speaking with God”…it takes more examination of conscience (you have to think about it awhile)…it takes more courage to say it out loud to someone else (which is why some people don’t want to do it?))…and you can get helpful remedy (penance) from a good confessor to assist you to refrain from repeating those sins.

It is a blessing.

 

[Protector]

Originally Posted by Protector:…"… that the Holy Scriptures tell us that we may confess our sins directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour."

What verse is that again?

It is "ScriptureS" (plural) PR.

(5) "And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. (6) But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. (7) And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him. (9) Thus therefore shall you pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. (10) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…(12 )and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. " Matthew 6:5 -12

Do Catholics take this extract from verse (6) as referring to the Confessional?

(6) “…enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret:”

Also,

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. " 1 John 1:9

In the absence of identification of the person, or persons to whom this confession is to be made, the context requires that it is to “Him” (God the Father), as in, "…He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. "

---

I have stated the following:-

Protector: "…we may confess our sins directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ,"

And you have requested the Scriptural verse in support of that statement. I reply with the following:-

The Catholic Catechism in relation to prayers to God, viz:-

PART FOUR
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE
PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

CHAPTER TWO
THE TRADITION OF PRAYER

ARTICLE 2
THE WAY OF PRAYER
…
**Prayer to the Father **
2664 There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether **our prayer **is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it **has access to the Father only if we pray “in the name” of Jesus. **The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father

.
In as much as the paragraph (2664) does not state the form, or the subject matter of the prayers to God, and does not specifically exclude prayers of Confession, it is reasonable to conclude that my statement above is in total agreement with that section of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
So may I ask, without wishing to sound disrespectful, on what verse, or verses in Holy Scripture is that paragraph based?

PRmerger: …you must confess your sins to a priest in order to have your mortal sins forgiven.

***What verse is that again PR?***

In making that statement you are saying to the whole Non-Catholic world ( approx. 5.846 billion people) that unless they become Roman Catholics they have NO salvation. Now I am aware that that was the case in the past, i.e. extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, but I thought that it had been “watered-down” by recent Vatican statements, Is that not the case?

Protector.

 

[PRmerger]

It doesn’t change the fact that you must confess your sins to a priest in order to have your mortal sins forgiven.

What verse is that again PR?.

I am not sure if you have forgotten that you are on a Catholic forum, in dialogue with Catholics.

As such, you ought to know that Catholics do not distill our beliefs from a book, no matter how holy.

Thus, we do not ever need to say that all of our beliefs can be found in the pages of the Bible.

In fact, to do so would be self-refuting, for the Bible never says that this is a belief that must be found.

It is a man-made tradition to demand that all of our beliefs must be found in the Bible.

 

[Amandil]

I am not sure if you have forgotten that you are on a Catholic forum, in dialogue with Catholics.

As such, you ought to know that Catholics do not distill our beliefs from a book, no matter how holy.

Thus, we do not ever need to say that all of our beliefs can be found in the pages of the Bible.

In fact, to do so would be self-refuting, for the Bible never says that this is a belief that must be found.

It is a man-made tradition to demand that all of our beliefs must be found in the Bible.

Yeah, I noticed that he was perpetrating that double standard as well.

 

[PRmerger]

However, my objective is to bring to their attention the wonderful news that they can confess their sins directly to the Father, claiming the Blood of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our mediator.

What verse is that again?

It is "ScriptureS" (plural) PR.

(5) "And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. (6) But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. (7) And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him. (9) Thus therefore shall you pray:

I noticed, Protestor, that in all of the verses you provided, NOT A SINGLE VERSE uses the word “directly”.

If you press “Control +S” and search for the word “directly”, the ONLY place it comes up is where you have added it.

This is an egregious error you are making, adding something to Scripture which is not there.

That we must confess our sins can indeed be found in the Scriptures. On that we are agreed.

That it can be done without a priest…well, that is something you have ADDED to Scripture.

 

[PRmerger]

Now I am aware that that was the case in the past, i.e. extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, but I thought that it had been “watered-down” by recent Vatican statements, Is that not the case?

Protector.

Absolutely not.

EENS has been the constant teaching of the Church for 2000 years.

IF you are saved, Protector, it is ONLY through Christ, and His Body, the Catholic Church.

If someone has told you that EENS has been “watered-down” you must tell this person that he is mistaken.

 

[Protector]

Gorgias;11767854] Protector, I’m confused. You state that Scripture tells us that “we may confess our sins directly to God”, and then you cite Scripture in an attempt to bolster your claim. Yet, **your Scripture reference doesn’t say “confess your sins directly to God” – it says “confess your faults to one another”! **

Not so Gorgias. The Scriptures on which I rely to support my statement,

“… the Holy Scriptures tell us that we may confess our sins directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ…” "

are the Lord’s Prayer, and 1 John 1:9.

Further I stated in another post that my statement was in agreement with the CCC

PART FOUR-CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE-PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE-CHAPTER TWO
THE TRADITION OF PRAYER-ARTICLE 2
THE WAY OF PRAYER
Prayer to the Father
2664 There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray “in the name” of Jesus. The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father

And added,

In as much as the paragraph (2664) does not state the form, or the subject matter of the prayers to God, and does not specifically exclude prayers of Confession, it is reasonable to conclude that my statement above is in total agreement with that section of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Then I said,

So may I ask, without wishing to sound disrespectful, on what verse, or verses in Holy Scripture is that paragraph based?

I further posted

"…there is no reason why Catholics should not confess their sins to a priest if they so desire, as to any other person (against whom they may have committed sins) in accordance with James 5:16 :-

The full passage puts it in context:-

(14) "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, (15) And the prayer of faith shall deliver the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
(16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."James 5:14-16

With regard to verse James 5:15,

(15) “…and the Lord shall raise him up; **and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” **

That means that God, in answer to the prayers being offered will remove the sickness (i.e. raise him up), then God will remove any sins that may have been the cause of the sickness in the first place -

“For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” Hebrews 12:6

Gorgias;11767854] There are two significant problems here, that I would like you to address:

First, **your assertion of confessing directly to God fails, if it relies on your quoted Scripture passage. **

It does not rely on that passage Gorgias (please see explanation above )

Gorgias:11767854] James doesn’t call for confession to God, but confession to one another!

I know. That is why it is NOT the Scriptural citation in support of my statement re- “Confession of sins to God”.
The passage from James is supporting my statement that,

** "…there is no reason why Catholics should not confess their sins to a priest if they so desire, as to any other person (against whom they may have committed sins) in accordance with James 5:16 :- **

Are you saying then, that Scripturally speaking, we should confess to one another and then ask each other to pray directly to God?

Why would I say that?

Second, the remedy that confession to one another seeks isn’t forgiveness of sins, but healing!

I have already stated that in different words.Gorgias.

These are two distinct goals, and cannot be conflated! Forgiveness of sins speaks to absolution from past acts, while healing speaks to being made whole in the present for the sake of the future! After all, when Jesus was presented with the blind and the lame, He did both things – not only one – and when he did them, it was obvious that the two were distinct actions!

And that is precisely what is illustrated in James 5:15 Gorgias. God first removes the sickness (lifts him up), then, God forgives any sins that he has committed.

**James speaks only about healing, not forgiveness! **

That is true except for verse 15.

So, given that your post attempted to demonstrate that confession to a priest is unnecessary and that we are instructed to go directly to God… but given that your post seems to fail to demonstrate either of these assertions… do you have any alternate Scripture citations that you would like to place before us as proof of your assertions?

I think that the citations that I have supplied thus far should suffice, but if further research turns up anything new I will post them at a later date if necessary.

Protector

 

[po18guy]

I am searching for God. I am hoping for the “light switch” to come on. I know that the Graces of the Sacraments should help in this regard, at least by Catholic teaching. Yet even though I have been faithfully going to Mass, going to RCIA, and participating in my Church in every way except confession and receiving the Eucharist, I still have nagging doubts about what the Truth is.

For those who are searching, God will not deny them.

Are you spending time before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? Has this been explained to you at all? If so, great. If not, then just understand that Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. It is so difficult for the human intellect to believe that what appears to be bread is actually Christ, that it requires faith that cannot be faked. Yet, with patience, that faith will be yours for the asking.

You need not search any further than your local parish. Find out when they offer adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Then, simply pick a time. Go and spend time with Him. Place any and all doubts before Him. Then, be as patient with our Lord as He has been with you. And, as father Benedict Groeschel says, “When you are aware that He is there, you will be changed.”

I doubted. I went. I believe. Miracles occur in His presence.

 

[Protector]

PRmerger;11769228] Absolutely not.

EENS has been the constant teaching of the Church for 2000 years.

IF you are saved, Protector, it is ONLY through Christ, and His Body, the Catholic Church.

If someone has told you that EENS has been “watered-down” you must tell this person that he is mistaken.

Thank you PR, I will.

Oh, just for the benefit of the uninitiated, would you please explain what EENS means, and what it entails. Otherwise they may be forced to stab at a guess, e.g. Every Evening Near Sunset.

Protector.