If the Pope knew the Scriptures and recognized their authority, he would know that church officials have no authority to forgive sins. The Pope is ignoring the Biblical roles of Christ and repentance.
The Pope has a lot of faults, but I'm pretty sure he knows John 20:22-23 quite well. Since it's a crystal clear grant of authority to "church officials" to forgive sin, I must perforce assume that you've never read it.