As I have seen it there still is the hardened mortal/venial sin distiction about. Here is mortal sin as defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church
The church has not abandoned the concept of mortal sin and venial sin, nor did I intend to suggest that. What I meant was that the church is moving away from legalistic distinctions in which some lawyer or theologian sits down and determines the exact point at which a less serious failing suddenly erupts into a mortal sin. We no longer publish guides for teens in which the author attempts to identify the exact point at which a kiss moves from an expression of affection to an expression of lust (becoming sin) to an uncontrolled passion that separates one from God (becoming mortal sin). Yeeesh, were those books stupid. There are Christians that hold that sin is sin and that swiping a candy bar is equally deserving of perpetual punishment in hell as murdering children. The RCC does not believe that each of those acts has the same force of separating one from God.
Ahhhh, I see what you are saying.
One question I have is this, why do Catholics confess to a priest. Shouldnt we be confessing to God?
Catholics do confess to God. Catholic teaching is that the moment that one has experienced sorrow for sin, God forgives.
There are a number of reasons why the Sacrament of Reconciliation developed.
One aspect is that the Catholic Church has, throughout history, seemed to have an appreciation for the utility of outward signs. (There is always the danger of such signs becoming empty ritual, but ritual, itself is one way in which humans convey and reinforce belief.) The act of expressing sorrow for a particular sin to another person who is physically present before one is a very strong reinforcement for the contrition one needs to express for that sin. This is not to say that a person who simply repents to God, privately in their heart, has failed to express contrition. It is a recognition that the speaking aloud of one’s sins requires a specific effort and that it has psychological benefits, in and of itself.
Beyond that, there is the concept of the Body of Christ which is interwoven throughout all Church teachings. The Body of Christ is the whole community of believers who are united (more or less closely, depending on the Grace that they have accepted) with Jesus. When one sins, it is not merely the breaking of some Divine Rule, it is the placing of a barrier between one and the Body of Christ and the Love of God. Therefore, when one wishes to repent, it is not a private matter between a person and God; it is a matter of reconciling with the Body of Christ. As such, it is fruitful to confess one’s sins to a representative of the Body of Christ, the priest.
Jesus explicitly told the Apostles that they had the authority to forgive sins: John 20:21 - 23. Clearly, they are acting in His place, but the command was given to men. (To humans, of course, but only men, to date, in the RCC.)