Sacraments
Confession and Reconciliation
Christ gave the apostles authority to forgive sins in his name, an authority exercised in the Church through the sacrament of Confession.
Catholic teaching
Sins committed after baptism are ordinarily forgiven through sacramental confession to a priest, who acts in the person of Christ to grant absolution after genuine contrition and a resolve to sin no more. This is not a human invention but flows directly from Christ's own commission to the apostles on Easter evening.
Biblical foundation
The risen Christ breathes on the apostles and grants them explicit authority: 'if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.' James instructs believers to 'confess your sins to one another,' and Jesus gives Peter and the apostles the power to 'bind and loose.'
Scripture references
Historical evidence
The Didache and Tertullian both attest to a formal process of confession and penance in the earliest centuries, and by the third century St. Cyprian describes bishops readmitting the lapsed to communion only after confession and penance performed before the Church's ministers.
The Church Fathers
“Let each confess his sin while he is still in this world, while his confession can be received.”