Carlos Payan (1963 – 12 October 2024) was a French Protestant pastor.

Biography

Born in Lons-le-Saunier, France in 1963, Payan was the eighth child of

Spanish republican The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissolv ...

militants. He was a member of the

Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France The Mouvement Jeunes communistes de France (MJCF), commonly called the "JC" (for Jeunesse Communiste, historically its first name), is the first political youth organisation of France, close to the French Communist Party (PCF). The MJCF is organ ...

and worked for ''

L'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

'' before converting to Christianity and read the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

; his baptism was seen as a "betrayal" to his family. He became an assistant pastor at an evangelical church and joined the Institut biblique décentralisé. He was inspired by Emiliano Tardif and joined the ''Embrase nos cœurs'' organization, where he met several Catholic and Protestant personalities. In 2003, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and founded his own organization, ''Paris tout est possible'', where he organized prayers and healings. He was praised as a "speaker appreciated for his humor, his simplicity and his slightly provocative side" and an "artist before being a healer". In 2017, he prayed alongside

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

alongside over 100 other evangelical pastors. Payan died of a heart attack on 12 October 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payan, Carlos 1963 births 2024 deaths People from Lons-le-Saunier French Protestant ministers and clergy French people of Spanish descent Converts to Christianity