Confession
James 5:14-16
Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church... Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved.
Context of the passage
James gives pastoral instruction for the sick and for the community's spiritual life, mentioning both anointing by priests and mutual confession.
Catholic reading
This passage supports both the Anointing of the Sick administered by ordained 'priests' (presbyteroi) and the practice of confessing sins as integral to the community's spiritual healing, consistent with a sacramental structure of grace mediated through the Church.
Common objection
'Confess to one another' means any believer can hear another's confession informally; it says nothing about a required, priestly-only confession.
Response
The passage as a whole moves from calling for priests specifically (v.14) into mutual confession and healing (v.16), naturally read within a context where priestly ministry is already established as central; the Church has always retained lay confession of venial faults alongside sacramental confession of grave sin to a priest.