None of that speaks to Christians needing a human intercessory to ask God for forgiveness.

The Didache:
“Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure” (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).

The Letter of Barnabas:
“You shall confess your sins. You shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light” (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).

Ignatius of Antioch:
“For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ” (Letter to the Philadelphians 3 [A.D. 110]).

“For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop” (ibid., 8).

Irenaeus: “[The Gnostic disciples of Marcus] have deluded many women. . . . Some of these women make a public confession, but others are ashamed to do this, and in silence, as if withdrawing from themselves the hope of the life of God, they either apostatize entirely or hesitate between the two courses” (Against Heresies 1:22 [A.D. 189]).

Tertullian: “[Regarding confession, some] flee from this work as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to the physicians; and thus they perish along with their own bashfulness” (Repentance 10:1 [A.D. 203]).

Hippolytus

“[The bishop conducting the ordination of the new bishop shall pray:] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Pour forth now that power which comes from you, from your royal Spirit, which you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and which he bestowed upon his holy apostles . . . and grant this your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, [the power] to feed your holy flock and to serve without blame as your high priest, ministering night and day to propitiate unceasingly before your face and to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command” (Apostolic Tradition 3 [A.D. 215]).

Origen: “[A final method of forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, ‘I said, “To the Lord I will accuse myself of my iniquity”’” (Homilies on Leviticus 2:4 [A.D. 248]).

I understand that these writings are not in the Bible. Are they recognized by the Catholic Church?

We have, and need intercessors for many things. Scripture is not perspicuous. It needs an interpreter:

"speaking of these things as he [Paul] does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures." ~2 Pt. 3:16

"For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,[literally= itchy ears] will accumulate teachers
and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths." ~ 2 Tim. 4:3 - 4

We rely on the Church to show us the truth. We rely on our appointed leaders to administer the sacraments, including Reconciliation.

Yes both Catholic and Orthodox recognize the teaching of the early Church Fathers as being authentic interpreters of the oral tradition along with the Bible.

I attended mass every Sunday for many years and also attended Catholic schools from first to 12th grade and they never discussed any of these "early writings".

In any event, there is no apparent Biblical justification for needing a priest to apologize to God for our sins. Although I will say that requiring a priest must have been good for church attendance, participation, and, most importantly, revenue.

No mention of any of the early church Fathers?

Fascinating.

None that I can recall.

On another note, was Pope Urban VI a quality intercessory to God?

I suspect this is meant intercessory in a sacramental sense, and Urban VI for specific reasons.

If so, Donatism.

I was alluding to the faulty view (in my opinion) that the Pope is somehow the direct spiritual descendant of Jesus here on Earth.

The "somehow" leaves considerable wobble room. And, as so expressed, I am not familiar with the formulation. Can you source it, as so stated, in some RCC document?

Nope.

What do you believe is the Pope's standing with regard to Jesus?

A sinner in His eyes, as are all of us. And the successor of St. Peter, as to the Church,

It's more than that. Isn't the Pope considered "infallible" on matters of faith?

Not exactly. Under specified conditions as set forth in Vat 1.

In any event, the various Popes throughout history, including the current Pope, have aptly demonstrated to me that they're just mortal men with no authority under Christ whatsoever. The Church has many teachings that they made up and which have nothing to do with any commandments given by Christ. I'm glad that I woke up to the false doctrines of the Church.

OK.

This is clearly not a 101 thread. Moving to apologetics.

Which false doctrines are you talking about?

It's one thing to say "false doctrine" and another thing to list that "false doctrine" and defend your judgement.