If I didn't want to know the answer, I wouldn't ask the question.
I will share a story. When I lived in Florida years ago, I was Chairman of the Catholic Scouting Committee in a Diocese. When we had campouts, I always arranged for a Priest to come say Mass for us at the event – the parents and the scouts didn’t have to worry about rushing to Mass. At one camporee, I saw a guy sitting way in the back – obviously not Catholic. After Mass, I approached him and asked him what he thought. It was the first time he saw a Catholic Mass. He said he was amazed at the amount of Scripture.
We chatted, and then he asked a question – “Why do Catholics confess sins to a Priest and not directly to God?”
A very good question, and I happened to have my bible with me. I quoted from John -
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:19-23
So I told him, “First, note the phrase “he breathed on them.” I told him there is only one other place in the Bible where God breathes on man – “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 So, I continued, that from Scripture alone, you can see that something special is going on here. And then look at the next part - “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Christ is giving certain men the power to forgive sins. The only way they could know if a sin is to be forgiven or retained is to Hear It. At that point Christ instituted, with his priesthood, the sacrament of Penance, or confession.
We became friends, and I was his sponsor when he entered the Catholic Church a few years later.
Imagine what would have happened if in response to his question I said, “Go look it up.”
Now I know many here will have a different interpretation of this passage, and I don’t want to hijack the thread. But Christ’s command to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Sprit” requires far more than a “Go look it up” response.
Your inability to provide a simple explanation has me convinced that you know not of which you speak.
Indeed we do, but the differences we share are NOWHERE on the scale of MORMON heresy!!