Why do you confess to a Priest?

[Jesus] said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 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." -John 20:21-23

The Church is the presence of Jesus on earth. It continues Jesus' work on earth, just as He wanted it to. A major part of that work, of course, is the forgiveness of sins.

I'll bet that you've experienced God's love, most of all, through other people. God doesn't mind sharing His love for us through other people. It's the exact same thing with God's forgiveness. Yes, God is the forgiver of sins but as indicated in the passage from John, He wants it to come to us through those people He sent to minister in His name.

Catholics do not, however, beleive that all of God's forgiveness has to come through an ordained minister. If that were true we wouldn't say the Act of Contrition or include a rite of penance in every mass or ask God's forgiveness for sins through a litany("Lord have mercy...") or through the Confiteor("I confess to almighty God...").

God knows our hearts can so easily be taken over with doubts about God's forgiveness. He knows what kind of strength we can get from the authoritative assurance that "Yes, your sins are forgiven." So He gave us this holy Sacrament of Reconciliation (as John 20:23 makes very clear) in which God's grace is made present to us in a very special way.

So what you say is....

• Catholics believe that forgiveness of sins comes from God.
• God shares this forgiveness with us in many ways. Included in this is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
• Catholics believe that God works through this sacrament to forgive sins becuase Jesus said He does in the Gospel of John.