Q. 1. Some of my friends, who are non-Catholic, confess their sins direct to God. They say there is no biblical support to confess one's sins to a priest as we Catholics do. Is that true?

A. 1. There is Biblical support for the Sacrament of Confession. When Jesus instituted the Catholic Church, He

(A) asked that the Sacrament of Confession be promoted on earth [Lk. 24:47],

(B) gave the authority to forgive or retain sins to man (the priesthood) [Jn. 20:23], and

(C) affirmed that through the power of the keys to the kingdom of heaven, if a priest forgives a sin on earth, it shall be forgiven in Heaven and vice versa. [Mt. 16:19, 18:18]

These are the Bible passages:

"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." [John 20:23]

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [Mt. 16:19, 18:18]

"And that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations." [Lk. 24:47]

In the Holy Bible, we read, "There is one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human." [1 Tim. 2:5] Of course this is true, and Jesus, as the one mediator, gave his apostles and their successors the authority to "bind and loose" to "forgive or retain" sins. How can they exercise this authority if they are not told what the sins are? As shown above, there are many biblical passages that support the confessing of sins to a priest.