That’s stupid. The Lord forgives our sins when we bring them to Him. (Catholic here).
If you deny that sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, you are not a Catholic.
The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: The Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:
"God, the Father of mercies, through the death and the resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
The priest on Fox & Friends this morning agrees with you.
We ask pardon and absolution. And there is the PLAN to not commit that sin again. Then we DO/say our penance and can be happy of heart again.
Then you would agree that that priest sitting in that little booth listening to people confess their sins is merely an act of symbolism and not really worth the time they took to do it?