The Town of Odyssey

The quick answer is that Catholicism is a denomination of intermediaries. Put more basically, Catholicism stresses the Me ---> Church --- > God relationship whereas the Protestant denominations tend to prefer a Me --> God relationship with "Church" as an often necessary, (but not necessarily intermediary or mandatory) component of the Christian life. This basic understanding is vital because it explains why Catholics have things like Priests, Sacraments and devotions to Mary and the Saints. All of these things are part of the Intermediary "Church" through which we, as members, worship God.

So what does this mean, practically speaking and how does it deal with confession? Confession is one of the Seven Sacraments of the Church. We define "Sacrament" as "An outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give Grace." We believe all seven of the Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick) are necessary components of the Christian life, but obviously not all are applicable to every Catholic (e.g. Holy Orders and Marriage) and not all are mandatory (e.g. Annointing of the Sick). We do, however, believe that one should participate in the Sacraments, as they were instituted by God for the purpose of our participating in them. Specifically, we believe that when Jesus explicitly gave Peter and the Apostles the ability to forgive sins in His name, and that that this ability was passed down through the Church and Her Priests through Apostolic Succession. So, when Jesus tells Peter "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed on Heaven" he was specifically referring to the Apostles' ability to confect the Sacraments (Eucharist, Baptism, etc) as well as the ability to forgive sins in the name of Christ (confession).

So now that we have this background in place, namely the belief that God gave us these Sacraments as a really good method for drawing closer to Him through participating in them, we can say that yes, confessing to God directly is fine, and yes, confessing to a fellow believer is fine, but since Jesus explicitly gave his Apostles the ability to forgive sins in His name, and because He instituted this system Himself, we should take advantage of it as the primary method of obtaining forgiveness for our sins.

So, this means, when the Priest forgives sins, it is not the Priest forgiving us as a human person, but Jesus forgiving our sins. The Priest stands "Alter Christi" or "In the place of Christ", as the embodiment of what is taking place between us and Jesus. And because the Priest specifically has this ability, conveyed upon him through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, it provides us an opportunity to take full advantage of the Graces provided through the Sacrament, which Christ instituted for our benefit.

Thanks, that helps, i'm still a little bit confused about what the point in having a priest "In place of Christ' when we can just go straight to Christ, And why it's the "Primary method" of forgiving sins. It's also confusing since in 1 Timothy 2:5 it states: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. it says that there's ONE mediator, just one, so i'm confused as to how the priests can act as one as well.

Another question I have pertains to Matthew 16:18-19, and Matthew 18:18. Honestly, whenever I talk to a catholic Matthew 16:18-19 is the only verse that they've ever used to defend any of their points. But anyway, my question is that, In Matthew 16, what he tells Peter gives him the power to forgive sins, and if I understand correctly, is the reason he was the first pope. Yet in Matthew 18 Jesus says the exact same words to a group of people he's talking to, so do these people have the power to forgive sins as well? And do they deserve to be pope just as much as Peter does?

Believe me i'm not trying to attack your beliefs in any way, I'm just trying to gain a better understanding for what you, and other catholics believe.

To give an Orthodox perspective that is slightly different from the Roman Catholic one, in the Orthodox sacrament of confession the Priest is not a mediator or in place of Christ but a witness for you for what you say to God. Orthodox understand Christ's words in Matthew 16 to not just be for Peter but for all the Apostles and their successors which are the Bishops and Priests of the Orthodox Church, who do have the power to bind and release sins on earth.

I do agree with Sherlock however that Protestants have neglected the importance of the Church in the life of a Christian, I think the Matthew 16 verse does speak to the role of the Apostles and their successors in the life of a Christian. I would obviously disagree with the theology of the Pope though.