When the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland knights a man, he may be said to 'act as King,' i.e., for the King. Similarly St Thomas says that what a priest knows by the confessional, he 'knows as God' (scit ut Deus, Sum. Theol. Supplem. q. 11, art. 5). The Christian Priesthood is a development of the Incarnation. To rail at the former is to forget the latter. Clear your mind of Nestorianism ere you attack Sacerdotalism.

Of God and His Creatures: 4.74