I used to be a chaplain so I had to deal with all denominations and their clergy. I heard a catholic priest tell a dying woman that he possessed the power to absolve her of all her sins, then prayed a prayer from a book and told her she was forgiven and ready for heaven. I had to leave the room. When he left I came back to her bedside and told her about Jesus. She was comatose but I did it anyway hoping that she would hear my voice and reach out to HIM. I’ll never know in this life if it was effective but I pray it was and I had to try.
interesting, I had to look this up and it is in fact true.
do catholic priest have the power to absolve sins?
Short answer:
yes—according to Catholic belief, priests do have the authority to absolve sins, but
only because that authority comes from God, not from the priest himself.
Here’s the Catholic understanding, clean and straight:
Catholic teaching
In the
Catholic Church, priests act
in persona Christi—“in the person of Christ.”
Catholics believe
Jesus Christ gave this authority to the apostles, and that it has been passed down through apostolic succession.
Key Scripture Catholics point to:
Because priests are successors of the apostles, Catholics believe:
- God forgives the sin
- The priest is the instrument God uses
- The power is God’s, not the priest’s
So when a priest says,
“I absolve you from your sins…”, Catholics understand it as
Christ forgiving through the priest.
Important clarifications (even within Catholicism)
- Priests do not forgive by their own power
- Forgiveness ultimately comes only from God
- Confession requires real repentance—not just words
How this differs from many Protestant views
Most Protestants believe:
- Only God forgives sins directly
- Confession can be made straight to God without a priest
(often citing 1 Timothy 2:5 — “one mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus”)
Bottom line
- Catholic answer: Yes, priests can absolve sins by Christ’s authority
- Non-Catholic Christian answer: No, only God forgives sins directly