M6’s Live ‘Father Marc’ Confession on Dupont de Ligonnès Declared False

Overview

• The live M6 programme Appel à témoins aired Tuesday a caller who identified himself as “father Marc” and said Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès had confessed to him in 2022.
• The bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne, Bruno Valentin, publicly denied being contacted or authorizing any disclosure and called the sequence “trompeuse,” saying the alleged priest did not belong to the community named.
• M6 acknowledged the testimony was false, issued an unreserved apology to the bishop and opened internal investigations into how the unverified call reached air.
• The diocesan authority has referred the broadcast to Arcom for review of the channel’s obligations, and the Nantes prosecutor said investigators will perform routine verifications of the caller’s claims.
• Separate, unconfirmed leads discussed this week — including a new book suggesting a possible Italy route and OSINT stylometry signals — remain reported but have not been validated by police.