How do Catholics respond to the objection: 'Why confess sins to a man instead of directly to God?'
Catholics do confess directly to God, because only God can forgive sins. However, God chose to reconcile humanity through Christ's human nature, and Christ explicitly entrusted His authority to forgive sins to human apostles. On the evening of His Resurrection, Jesus breathed on the Apostles and declared: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' (John 20:22-23). The priest acts not by his own power, but as Christ's appointed sacramental ambassador, assuring the penitent with an audible sentence of divine pardon.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1441-1442
- John 20:21-23
- 2 Corinthians 5:18
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.