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Why do Catholics confess to Priests?
 
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Scripture shows that Jesus passed His “ministry of reconciliation” on to theApostles—the first Bishops of the Catholic Church—and that the Apostlespassed this ministry on to other Bishops and Priests. This is known as the“Apostolic Lineage” and this is one reason we believe in the
One
,
 Holy
,
Catholic
, and
 Apostolic
Church.
Only God can forgive our sins . . .
“Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
(Lk 5:21)
Jesus
is
God and He Has the Power to Forgive Sins . . .
“The Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth.”
(Mk 2:10)
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
(Jn 1:29)
“God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israelrepentance and forgiveness of sins.”
(Acts 5:31)Jesus gives
“his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins”
(Lk 1:77) so that we might be with Him in
“Paradise”
 (Lk 23:43)
Jesus died to offer
 the
blood sacrificenecessary for the forgiveness of our sins . . .
“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”
(Heb 9:22) . . .
“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship withone another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin”
 (1 Jn 1:7).
“In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions,in accord with the riches of his grace”
(Eph 1:7)
Jesus Empowered Peter, the first Pope,and the other Apostles, to forgive sins . . .
“
 I [Jesus] say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build mychurch, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the
 
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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” 
 (Mt 16:17-19)A single key or a pair of keys, usuallycrisscrossed in the shape of an “X,”occasionally one on top of the other, is themost common symbol for the sacrament of recon
 
ciliation. The symbol originates withJesus’ words to Peter, “I will give you thekeys to the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew16:19a), by which Jesus im-part-ed hisauthority to the church, and his continuingstatement, “Whatever you bind on earth shallbe bound in heaven, and whatever you looseon earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew16:19b), by which he established thesacrament of reconciliation and gave thechurch the authority to forgive sins (see alsoJohn 20:23).
“Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more thanthese?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ He said tohim, ‘Feed my lambs.’”
(Jn 21:15)
“Amen, I say to you [Apostles],
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
”
(Mt 18:18)
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them [the Apostles] and said tothem, ‘Receive the holy Spirit.
 
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained 
’”
(Jn 20:22-23)
“And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us [the Apostolic lineage] the
 ministry of reconciliation
”(2 Cor 5:18-19)
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