“Nobody needs to *defame* the Catholic church.”
Yes, but they do it anyway.
“The church has done plenty all by its lonesome to defame itself.”
No, it hasn’t.
“Then it could rightly say that it’s all slander and lies.”
Much of it is. There is also a lot of selective coverage.
“Martyrdom only works when someone has done nothing wrong.”
Does that mean Jesus is the only martyr then?
Who
NEEDS
to “defame”
the emporer walking down the street naked?