Often, this kind of language is a code word for "old wives' tale". However, the Church is, among other things, the oldest continually surviving historical institution today. It was vital for the Church to preserve an accurate historical record, especially of the relics and the martyrdom sites, because they were venerated as holy places and objects. Where the record is uncertain, the Church would be the first to say so. Consider, for example, the Catholic Encyclopedia reference to the martyrdom of St. Baltholomew that I quoted in #38. Would you dismiss that balanced and sober account as say-so?
Its testimony is immediately suspect, because it still exists and maintains its teaching 1900 years after the original skeptics said it was supposed to go away.