Makes you confess your sins to a Catholic priest, made you exempt?
Not really.
God absolves him.
Confessing their sins to another is not only a good psychology and it is recommended in the Bible.
The Catholic Church believes that "Only God forgives sin."
When a penitent person asks God for forgiveness, his (or his) sins are immediately forgiven.
Catholics also believe that when someone sins that not only hurt their relationship with God, but also hurt the whole church, the body of Christ.
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, breathed on them and told them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Who forgives sins are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained. " (John 20:21-23)
Several important things are happening all at once here and in the same context:
• "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." God the Father sent Christ to us for many reasons, one of which was to forgive us our sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors, among other things, forgive our sins.
• Jesus, the Son of God, "breathed" in the Apostles. The only other time in Scripture where God breathes on humanity is found in Genesis 2:7, when God "breathes" divine life in man. When God breathes on man things happen.
• Then and only then Jesus says: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Who forgives sins are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained. "
Jesus says this a little different in Matthew 16:19: "To you I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. What bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. "
Oral confession of sins, it is recommended over and over again in both the Old and New Testament:
• James 5:16
• Acts 19:18
• Matthew 3:5-6
• Mark 1:5
• 1 Timothy 6:12
• 1 John 1:9
• Numbers 5:6-7
• Nehemiah 9:2
• Sir 4:26
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation with a priest ordained in the name of Jesus Christ not only reconciles the sinner to God, but with the whole church, including you and me.
Remember that all sacraments are encounters with God. This sacrament is a healing encounter between God and the penitent.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1422 et seq: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2s …
With love in Christ.
The need and practice of oral confession of sins
James 5:16 - James clearly teaches us that we must "confess our sins to each other," not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which refers to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Therefore, when James says "therefore" in verse 16, which should refer to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 - these men are the ordained priests of the Church to whom we must confess our sins.
Acts 19:18 - many came to orally confess sins and divulge their sinful practices. Oral confession was the practice of the early Church as it is today.
Matt. 3:6, Mark 1:5 - again, this shows people confessing their sins before others as a historical practice (here to John the Baptist).
1 Tim. 6:12 - this verse also refers to the historical practice of confessing sins and faith in the presence of many witnesses.
1 John 1:9 - if they are to confess our sins, God is faithful to us and forgive us and cleanse us. But we must confess our sins to one another.
Num 5:7 - this shows the historical practice of publicly confessing sins, and making public restitution.
2 Sam. 12:14 - despite the fact that sin is forgiven, the punishment due for sin forgiven. David is forgiven but his child was still taken (the consequence of his sin).
Neh. 9:2-3 - the Israelites was before the assembly and confessed sins publicly and interceded for each other.
Lord. 4:26 - God tells us that he is not ashamed to confess our sins, and not to try to stem the flow of a river. Anyone who has experienced the sacrament of reconciliation understands the import of this verse.
Baruch 1:14 - again, this shows that the people made the confession in the house of the Lord, before the assembly.
1 John 5:16-17, Luke 12:47-48 - there is a distinction between mortal and venial sins. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2000 years, but today, most Protestants no longer agree that there is such a distinction. Mortal sins lead to death and must be absolved in the sacrament of reconciliation. Venial sins need not be confessed to a priest, but the pious Catholic practice is to do in order to move forward on our path to holiness.
Matt. 5:19 - Jesus teaches that breaking the least of commandments is venial sin (the person remains, but is saved in the kingdom), versus mortal sin (the person is not saved).
If you make a good confession, then the priest is entitled to decide acquitted him of his sins. But it is Jesus who is acquitted, not the act of confession.
Only if you believe in the Catholic faith