Why do Catholics confess our sins to another man (i.e., a Priest) rather than to God directly?

I was asked, “Why do Catholics confess their sins to a Priest, a fellow sinner, instead of to God Himself?”

As people, we all have the intrinsic right to dictate how we are to be treated by others. For example, if I went to your house and I was using chewing tobacco, would it be acceptable to you for me to spit on your floor? Of course not! You would expect me to treat your home with more respect. Shouldn’t God have the right to dictate our behavior toward Him? Of course He should.

Now, to paraphrase Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, we recognize that God is God and we are not. We have no authority to tell God how He will forgive our sins. The forgiveness of sins is God’s gift to us and we have no right to specify how God is to give us this gift.

In the infinite wisdom of God, He has given the authority to forgive sins to men. These men, whom we call Priests, act—as stated in Latin—in persona Christi capitis (i.e., in the person of Christ the head). In fact, when we speak to a Priest in the confessional—who is a conduit of God’s mercy—we actually are speaking to Jesus through the Priest. In scripture, we read that Jesus gave this authority to Peter in Matthew 16:

¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Additionally, Matthew 9 states:

⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.” ⁷ And he stood up and went to his home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

Again, James 5 states:

¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.

Lastly, in Matthew 18 we see that Jesus gave the authority to forgive sins to the Apostles:

¹⁸ Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

In summation, no servant is greater than his master. We are servants of Christ. As such, if Jesus established that sins are to be forgiven by other men, we have no authority to change what he has mandated and follow His direction.