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Dee Farra wrote:

Hi, guys —

I have a question about Confession that's probably easy for you.

In the Beginning Apologetics Book #1 by Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham, a paragraph states the following:

“Protestants say they confess their sins to God while Catholics confess their sins only to priests. Wrong. Catholics always confess their sins to God. They do it directly as well as through His ministers because that is what God requires, as clearly taught in Scripture."

In this paragraph, am I to believe that Catholics can:

  • go to Confession with a priest and confess directly to God, or
  • when we go to Confession with a priest we are, in fact, confessing directly to God?

I was raised to do the latter and am actually one of the few people that enjoys counsel during Confession. At the same time, I have teenagers and I do not want to make any mistakes in teaching them about the sacrament of Confession.

Thank you,

Deirdre Farra
  { When Catholics confess to a Catholic priest are they directly confessing to God? }

Mary Ann replied:

Hi Deirdre,

Thanks for the question.

Catholics should confess their sins to God every day. As soon as we realize we have sinned,
we should confess to God and He forgives immediately.

If it is a serious sin, we have the obligation to also confess to God through His ministers of the sacrament that He left for us (Confession):

  • to receive assurance of forgiveness
  • to receive a special healing grace, and
  • to be reconciled with the Body of Christ so that we can receive Communion.

It is good to bring all sins to this sacrament, but we must bring the serious sins, as soon as we reasonably can.

The minister acts as a judge, an advisor, and ultimately in the role of Christ, who truly acts through him so, yes, in this sacrament we are confessing to God through His minister.

Hope this helps,

Mary Ann
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