What is Confession? Do Catholics have to go to a priest to be forgiven?
In the same way that Catholics believe what Jesus and the Bible say about Communion, they believe what Jesus and the Bible say about Confession – now called the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. Jesus forgave sins freely. He gave the power to forgive sins to the Apostles. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:23) When Jesus forgave sins he often told the person “go and sin no more”. When a Catholic goes to Confession he or she receives forgiveness from Jesus and is told to go and sin no more. Confession does not give Catholics the permission to sin in the future. Catholics in each Confession promise to avoid sins to the best of their ability. Certainly we all know and believe God and not men forgive sin. But when Jesus directs the Apostles (and through them our Bishops and Priests) to forgive or retain sin we act according to His commands. Our sins hurt not only our relationship with God, but our relationsh
