Oh, and another thing maria3lizab3th. When we are confessing our sins, we know that the priest is NOT God, but he is standing in the place of Jesus. Look at the Act of Contrition; the first three words…. and the parts I have in bold.

[b:369w89bv]O my God,[/b:369w89bv]
I am heartily sorry for having offended[b:369w89bv] Thee,[/b:369w89bv]
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell;
but most of all because[b:369w89bv] they offend Thee, my God[/b:369w89bv],
Who are all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of [b:369w89bv]Thy grace,[/b:369w89bv]
to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

This prayer is directed to God, not to the priest.

Also the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1441)states: Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, “The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” and exercises this divine power: “Your sins are forgiven.” Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. This falls in line with John 20:22-23.