Getting Rid Of The Middleman

Vatican sin specialist Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti is discouraged by the number of Catholics avoiding the confessional.

From Reuters:

He pointed to a study by Milan's Catholic University that showed that up to 60 percent of Catholic faithful in Italy stopped going to confession.

In the sacrament of Penance, Catholics confess their sins to a priest who absolves them in God's name.

But the same study by the Catholic University showed that 30 percent of Italian Catholics believed that there was no need for a priest to be God's intermediary and 20 percent felt uncomfortable talking about their sins to another person.

This is the kind of thing devout Catholics lament: so-called "Cafeteria Catholicism" where the faithful pick and choose what tenants of the faith they want to believe. To be sure, we have a lot of Cafeteria Protestants, too.

But personally, I believe you can confess sins to God without a priest, based on Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:6 (NASB) "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

Also, Hebrews 4:15-16 (NASB): "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Be advised, I'm not a clergyman, just a humble Christian who's still learning.