Protestants don't HAVE to do any of this. If they are sola Scriptura folks they just read and follow their Bible as best they can. If they sin they just ask God to forgive them. How do they know He does? Because they believe He does.
There is
*no need for confession of sins to a priest,
*no spoken act of contrition in the presence of the priest and then
*no Jesus-authorized priestly pronouncement : Te absolvo...
*no MORTAL (which MUST be confessed before Holy Communion on pain of yet another mortal sin) or VENIAL sins
*and finally, no penance imposed on the sinner, which MUST be done on pain of yet another sin.
And when He had said this,
John 20:22 "And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"
Matthew 18:18 "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.
Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Catholic priests have the authority to say the words:
1. that mean that God HAS forgiven our sins (and to impose penance);
2. that change bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, God.
They truly have AMAZING and wonderful authority.
Peter and disciples decided on how their next "Vicar of Christ" was to be selected. The "Vicars of Christ" still continue today at the Vatican, rather, using the old name: Vatican Hill.
Of course, for Protestants, if it's not in Scripture, collated by the Catholic Church, then it's not valid.
SO odd that Protestants believe in the Scripture that the Catholic Church collated, and if ANYTHING isn't there, then it's not considered valid to them. I just think that is odd.
If I have erred here I apologize.
I did NOT mean to offend anyone either.
Yes, you erred.
It’s much simpler than you make it:
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We believe He forgives because He cannot and will not lie, and in His Word He tells us He is Faithful AND JUST to forgive us. I'm almost 69 years old, been a Christian since in my later twenties, and I end every day thanking God for yet another day and reviewing where I have failed to be the Christian He wants of and for me. I ask His forgiveness and He is faithful and just to follow through on His promises, one of which is His forgiveness toward me. It is much more than merely believing because I want to be forgiven. It is the assurance of His promises which tells me my honest confession to Him results in His forgiveness toward me.
This is the standard RC recourse, the argument being that the stewards of Scripture are the infallible interpreters of it, but for clarification please answer the questions in post #8 above .
Yet the reason that Catholic converts to Evangelical churches, is that they are seeking a deeper relationship with their God, not a lessor one.
90% of them give that reason, that seems to disagree with your claim.