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Where does the Bible say I have to confess my sins to a priest?

The confession in the Bible is where Christ says to the apostles, whatever you have bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. This was what is classically called the power to bind and loose sins. This was never interpreted by church fathers as being something that everyone had a part in. It was seen as an exclusive ability that was handed on to the apostles and was part of Christ's priesthood that he imparted to them. So when someone goes to confession, they confess to God, but the priest is Christ's representative in that confessional. And if they are sincere in their confession, he can loose the sins, meaning he can literally by his prayers remove or absolve the sins. Or if the person is unrepentant or continuing on in a way of life that is not consistent, he can actually tell them that the sins are bound to them until they carry out the necessary actions, and then he would come back and remove the sins.

Edited from his answer on camera. The clip has the full thing.

Matthew 18:18

Watch him answer it (34:41)

From “Priest Answers 101 Orthodox Questions

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