I didn't say they were all "frauds" but rather implied they were products of the culture in which the imperial church blossomed and flourished. The evolution of the Church is an apt case study for Darwin's research... what we saw in the dawn of Roman ekklesia was nothing short of "survival of the fittest," one civilization exerting it's hard-fought power and control over its massive empire. When the secular arm collapsed the imperial-minded church was there to pick up the slack, a tragic blending of charity and mind control that continues to this very day.

Incidentally, how on earth can you describe Marian apparitions as "factual" when the RCC doesn't even make that claim? Further, what does it have to do with the content of this discussion?