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Hi William,
Thanks for the question.
Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, Jesus uses the body and
words of the priest to forgive the sins of mankind. It may sound like
the words of Father Tom, but because Holy Orders places an extra special
character on the soul of a man, Jesus (using the man's body) then
gives us His Own sacramental saving grace, through the
person of the priest.
It is for this reason, that Jesus was a man (and not a woman) and instituted
this sacrament (in the person of Christ) for men only, that women
can never become priests.
You said:
- Why does Catholic doctrine acknowledge
confession of sins to a priest?
Because this is how Jesus wanted His faithful to receive the forgiveness of their sins after His Glorious Ascension into Heaven and . . . it's biblical!!
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors
being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the
disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace
be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven;
if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
John 20:19-23 |
If you want more Scriptures go here.
I hope this answers your question.
Mike Humphrey
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