St. Paul Practiced the Sacrament of Confession in Corinth

In 2 Corinthians 2:10, St. Paul teaches that any sins he has forgiven, he has done so in the person of Christ. The Berean Literal Bible translates it as, “Now to whomever you forgive anything, I also do; and indeed to whom I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for the sake of you, in the person of Christ.”

The Greek word for “in the person of” is prosopo, and it literally means “in the person of” or “in the presence of.” This term is also found, for example, in Hebrews 9:24 (“to appear in the presence of God”). We see that St. Paul forgives sins in the person of Christ, literally in His person or in His presence. This is exactly the Catholic (Christian) position. We confess our sins to God, and He forgives our sins through the ministerial priesthood (properly speaking, in the New Covenant, the Sacramental Priesthood). The priest communicates the forgiveness and absolution of God to us “in the person of Christ,” as St. Paul did for the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 states, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Above we see that the Church is given the ministry of reconciliation, otherwise known as the Sacrament of Confession/Penance/Reconciliation. We also see Christ give the Church this ministry in John 20:21-23: “He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”

Also, here are some further translations of 2 Corinthians 2:10 passage to drive the point home:

KJV: To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;

DRA: And to whom you have pardoned any thing, I also. For, what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned any thing, for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ.

ESV: Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,

St. Hippolytus, 215 AD: “Grant this to your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, the power to feed your holy flock, and to serve without blame as your high priest, ministering night and day to propitiate unceasingly before your face and to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command.”

St. Cyprian of Carthage, 251 AD: “Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who…confess their sins to the priests of God in a straightforward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience…. I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while he is still in this world, while his confession is still admissable, while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord.”