The practice of Catholic confession can be a mystery to people outside the Roman Catholic Church. While most can understand the feelings of guilt or shame that can come with bad behavior, they cannot understand how or why telling a priest about this would be necessary or helpful. Christians outside of the Roman Catholic Church find private confession directly to God more logical and meaningful. The first way to explore this is to understand what the Church teaches about sin, which is something much deeper than moral infractions. According to the Church, sin is a rejection of God and a brokenness within the soul that needs mending. Thus, dealing with sin in the life of a believer is not just about ridding oneself of the shadow of personal mistakes; it is an act of reconciliation with God and a healing. The Church teaches that priests are mediators who are authorized to provide this reconciliation and make possible the healing. According to the Catechism, “the priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.”