Bible Discussion Thread

The other day, my wife and her brother were discussing confession. I am a catholic and I was taught that confession was good so our sins can be forgiven. The debate went back and forth as she needs to go to church so she can go to confession. The debate started to turn into an argument and they tried to bring me in as to who is right or wrong. I am far from being a scholar in theology so I just stated that I don't know the answer. I did a little research to find Matthew 10:32. As I read this paragraph, I realized that confess is to give public acknowledgment of your faith and not specifically to confessing your sins. I tactfully want to tell my brother-in-law that my wife can confess her sins to Jesus in a private manner, is this sufficient to forgive your sins ? Among family, she tell them she love Jesus and God, is this sufficient to meet the confession requirement ?