https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989217
Confession
Definition: A declaration or an acknowledgment, either publicly or in private, (1) of what a person believes or (2) of his sins.
Is the rite of reconciliation, including auricular confession (personal confession into the ear of a priest), as taught by the Catholic Church Scriptural?
The manner in which the priest is addressed
The traditional formula, still often used, is: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [length of time] since my last Confession.”—U.S. Catholic magazine, October 1982, p. 6.
Matt. 23:1, 9, JB: “Jesus said, . . . ‘You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven.’”
Sins that can be forgiven
“The Church has always taught that every sin, no matter how serious, can be forgiven.”—The Catholic Encyclopedia (bearing the nihil obstat and the imprimatur), R. C. Broderick (Nashville, Tenn.; 1976), p. 554.
Heb. 10:26, JB: “If, after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately commit any sins, then there is no longer any sacrifice for them.”
Mark 3:29, JB: “Let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
How penance is to be shown
Frequently the confessor directs that the penitent say a specified number of “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys.”
Matt. 6:7, JB: “In your prayers do not babble [that is, utter in a meaninglessly repetitious manner] as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard.”
Matt. 6:9-12, JB: “You should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, . . . forgive us our debts.’” (Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to pray to or through Mary. See Philippians 4:6, also pages 258, 259, under “Mary.”)
Rom. 12:9, JB: “Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil.”
Did not Jesus authorize his apostles to forgive sins?
John 20:21-23, JB: “‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’”
How did the apostles understand and apply this? There is no record in the Bible of a single instance in which an apostle listened to a private confession and then pronounced absolution. However, the requirements for being forgiven by God are set out in the Bible. The apostles, under the direction of holy spirit, could discern whether individuals were meeting such requirements and could on this basis declare that God had either forgiven them or not forgiven them. For examples, see Acts 5:1-11, also 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 2 Corinthians 2:6-8.
