We’re to follow Jesus, not men.
“We’re to follow Jesus, not men.”
WRONG.
We’re to follow Jesus, including with the help of men and the authority which Jesus imparted to them.
ST. JOHN - Chapter 20
22 When he had said this, he breathed on them, and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23 *Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose you shall retain, they are retained
If you reject the men whom Jesus appointed to carry this out, then you reject Jesus.
(Metmom needs to confess her sins to a true priest or she will have no confidence whether or not she is saved.)