Priests and the Authority to Forgive Sins

 The Catholic Church’s teaching that priests can forgive sins is not based on human authority, but on the words of Christ Himself. 

In John 20:21–23, the risen Jesus appears to His apostles and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” This is not symbolic language. Christ gives His apostles real authority to forgive and retain sins. He says that He is sending the apostles as the Father had sent Him. The word "send" here refers to being sent with the full authority of the sender, which includes the authority to forgive sins.

This ministry of reconciliation is further affirmed in 2 Corinthians 5:18, where St. Paul writes, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” The apostles, and by extension their successors, are entrusted with carrying out this sacred work.

James 5:14–16 also instructs the faithful to call upon the elders (presbyters or priests) of the Church in times of illness and to “confess your sins to one another,” linking confession to the pastoral care of ordained ministers.

Salvation by Faith and Works

The Catholic Church teaches that we are saved by God’s grace through faith, but not by faith alone. This is not a denial of faith’s central role—it is an affirmation of the fullness of the Gospel as revealed in Scripture.

St. James states clearly, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). This is the only place in Scripture where the phrase “faith alone” is used—and it is specifically rejected.

At the same time, St. Paul teaches, “By grace you have been saved through faith... not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Yet he continues in verse 10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Faith is the beginning of our response to God's grace, but it must be alive and active, expressed through love (Galatians 5:6). In the Catholic view, faith and works are not opposed—they cooperate in the life of grace, just as Scripture itself affirms.