He also said this, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained." John 20:23
Now you and I can disagree till the cows come home that this indicates that Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to His Apostles, but it won't be very fruitful, as it will degrade into a "Scripture war" which usually happens in Protestant circles.
Fortunately (for me), I have faith in a Church that's not only a great place to go to on Sunday, but I also have faith that this very same Church has the power to discern what Scripture REALLY says, through its (the Church's) own teaching, a teaching ability granted by the Holy Spirit.
Again that's my faith. I honestly don't know how Protestants live without a Magisterium, as without such, "Scripture wars" invariably result.
Lets not forget that we are all Christians and ought not to emphasize our differences or claim to be superior to each other.Unfortuantely, the Catholic Church has been the one that excommuncates those that disagree with it. Luther did you guys a favor by challenging church authority. It was then that the Catholic Church tried to clean up its act. If it did not it would have faded into oblivion.
And we wonder WHY there are abuses.....