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Through faith in His promises... they are steadfast and unbreakable.

Yes. We call that "moral assurance". It's a logical deduction from the mercy of God. But it is not direct knowledge of forgiveness, which can only come from God Himself. Forgiveness is personal. It really has to be communicated from the offended party to the offender.

My problem with reconciling this act of confession... is that forgiveness can be withheld... this equates man to God in divining one's heart... which only God can do.

Ok, fair enough. So what do you suppose Christ means in John 20 when he says to the Apostles that "whose sins you retain, are retained"?

And note that right before Our Lord says that to them, He breathes on them, and says "receive the Holy Spirit". Doesn't the presence of the Spirit supply what is lacking in the brains and hearts of men doing the confessing?

It is a simple matter to show catholics WHY their priest is not on par with the Apostles, by merely looking at the episode with Ananias and Sapphira. The presence of the Holy Spirit in Peter gave him immediate knowledge of the deceitfulness of Ananias, so that when the lie was presented it met immediate rejection by Holy Spirit revelation. Peter already knew the lie BEFORE Ananias told it. Your priests do not have that level of God-presence in them thus they are not in the same frame of reference to do as the Apostles did.

I have given this clarification to catholics and Mormons, before, and they would not accept it either, so I expect you too will reject the simple TRUTH in order to continue believing the layers of lies that are at the heart of the religion of catholiciism.

Thanks for your response.... "It really has to be communicated from the offended party to the offender...."

And the assumption here is that a Priest must tell you that you are forgiven for God's forgiveness to be given? God has already promised that our sins are forgiven if we come to Him in faith. The Bible clearly states many times that if we repent we will be given forgievness, if only we beleive in Him... that is what faith is, believing what cannot be seen. I've never read that another human needs to confirm said forgiveness for it to be given. I believe that anyone can be forgiven at any time if they come to God honestly and repent... irregardless of human intervention. For example, Stalin, if on his deathbed truly repented and accepted Jesus.... he would be saved.... without confirmation from a Priest.... Again, appreciate your time....