Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16
Reconciliation is a sacrament instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest’s absolution to those who confess their sins with true sorrow and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a “sacrament,” not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul. This whole procedure is usually called “confession.” Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitent’s heart nor to a layman as friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requisite jurisdiction and with the “power of the keys,” i.e., the power to forgive sins which Christ granted to His Church.