Well, you may do so at your leisure, I’ll still elect to take them right to the One In Charge, thank you.
The Bible shows how the authority of forgiveness of sins was given to Jesus’s apostles. Also, the sacrament of Confession allows us to feel the extreme shame in going in and confessing our sins. We are supposed to feel shame in hurting God. “Confessing directly” as you put it, does not have that. Going through an actual confession in the Catholic Church makes you feel that inspiring power of being unchained from one’s sins.
Actually, I go to Confession every couple of weeks or so. And thus, I take “them right to the One In Charge.” And as the article says, yes, it is still necessary. And still, and always, a blessing, Deo Gratias.