Dr. Steven Payne O.C.D.

Father Steven Payne O.C.D. is a priest and member of the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite friars. After completing his B.A. in philosophy from Cornell University in 1972, he joined the novitiate of the Discalced Carmelites, professing his first vows on the 15th of August 1973. He then returned to Cornell University for graduate studies in philosophy, receiving his doctorate in philosophy in 1982 with a dissertation on San Juan de la Cruz. In the meantime, he had already begun theological studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 and later received his PhD in theology with a dissertation on St. Thérèse of Liseux’s recognition as a Doctor of the Church.

Father Payne has taught theology and spirituality at the Weston School of Theology (Boston), the DeSales School of Theology (Washington DC), the Washington Theological Union, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (Nairobi) and Tangaza University College (Nairobi), where he is currently the Principal. He is a member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies and the Carmelite Forum. His offices have included editor of Spiritual Life magazine (1988-1993), editorial director of ICS Publications (199-2000), president of the Carmelite Institute (2001-2005), and director of Tangaza’s Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation (2006-2011). His numerous publications in the fields of spirituality and Carmelite studies include “The Carmelite Tradition” (Liturgical Press, 2011).

• Principal of the Tangaza University College (Nairobi, Kenia).
• Doctor in Philosophy by the Cornell University. PhD in Theology by the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
• Member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies and the Carmelite Forum.