Pope Francis recently nominated over 1,000 so-called “super confessors”, their purpose? Forgiving sins that normally only the Pope or high ranking church officials can forgive.

Pope Francis declared 2016 to be the “Jubilee Year of Mercy”, and created the new office of super confessor. These priests also referred to as “missionaries of mercy” are to travel throughout the world hearing confessions on what the Vatican considers particularly egregious sins.

Pope Francis can declare anything he likes – it does not change the fact that what he is attempting to accomplish here is unbiblical.

The Catholic Church has long taken liberties with the Word of God, changing or reinterpreting the Bible to say what the Catholic Church desires it to say. This Pope in particular has taken things even a step further then his predecessors did. It was Pope Francis who said indulgences would be handed out for following him on Twitter. This is also the Pope that denies the Creation account of the Bible and says evolution is the way things truly happened – the Pope that entered a Turkish Mosque and prayed towards Mecca. Let’s not forget it was this same Pope that stated Muslims are non violent and that the world should not equate Islam with violence.

The notion that the Pope, a “super confessor”, or anyone else in the Catholic Church, or for that matter anyone anywhere period, can forgive sins is ridiculous. The idea that one can go to the priest, confess the sin(s), and then the priest proscribes the appropriate penance which the confessor performs; then the person is forgiven of the sin(s) confessed is just ludicrous. There is no biblical foundation for this whatsoever. The Pope has no authority to forgive sin, and he most certainly does not possess the authority to appoint others to forgive sins.

1 Timothy 2:5 states: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
In other words, Christ intercedes for us, Christ is the One who died on the cross and paid our sin debt. Christ is the One who forgives sin, not the Pope or his appointed ones.
1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins to God, He is faithful to forgive us. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that anyone other than God can forgive sin.

Think about it this way, since God decided what is and is not sin, and since all sins are an offense to Him only who is perfect, how then could any mere man offer forgiveness in God’s place thereby usurping God’s own unique authority? If any man could assign a penance after hearing a confession of sin and then declare the confessor to be forgiven – then what value did the crucifixion and blood sacrifice of Christ have? The only one who can grant forgiveness in God’s name is – God.

Do not be taken in by the fairy tales spun by the Pope and the Vatican counsel. If one is in need of forgiveness for sin, the Catholic Church (or any other) is completely unnecessary. One simply needs to repent, pray, and ask Jesus to forgive…
First published on The Olive Branch Report

 
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