"Men discharge a ministry for the remission of sins"

“SINS are forgiven by the Holy Ghost. . . . Men discharge a ministry for the remission of sins; they do not exercise any power of their own. For they forgive sins not in their own name but in that of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. They ask, the Godhead gives; the service is man’s, the reward is the Power on high."

~St. Ambrose of Milan: On the Holy Spirit, 3, 137.

The Confession, by Pietro Longhi.
Oil on canvas, 1750s; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.