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{{stub}}==Life== Abp. Nathaniel was born William George Popp on [[June 12]], 1940, in Aurora, Illinois, to a family of Romanian heritage. William was the third of five children in the family of Joseph Popp and Vera nee Boytor who were immigrants from the County of Satu Mare. In 1958, after completing primary and secondary schooling, William entered St. Procopius College in Lisle, Illinois that was a “Pontifical Eastern Rite Center” run by [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] [[monk]]s where he studied the history, origins, and purposes of the Greek Catholic Church. Upon graduation in 1962, William was called to Rome, Italy by the Romanian Greek Catholic bishop, Vasile Cristea, to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Athanasium Greek College, studying the rites, canons, and the spiritual life of the Byzantine Rite.
Consecration Date: November 15During these college years, 1980 <br>Nameday: April 22 William witnessed the activities of the second Vatican council and traveled through Germany and Greece including [[Mount Athos]]. It was at Mount Athos that William first visited an Orthodox Church and expressed the thought, ‘’If only the monks were not Orthodox.” Although deeply moved spiritually, his internal conflict with the history and loyalty to the “Unia” caused him to keep Orthodoxy at a distance. It was at Mount Athos that one of the spiritual fathers “bestowed” on him the name “Nathaniel.”
==Contact Info==PO Box 309Grass LakeUpon completing his studies in 1966, William was [[ordination|ordained]] to the diaconate on [[July 17]] and to the [[Presbyter|priesthood]] in the Romanian [[Uniate]] Church on [[October 23]]. Returning to the United States in January 1967, he was appointed as the assistant priest in the [[parish]] of St. Michael, in Aurora, Illinois. As Fr. Popp entered into parish life, the spirituality and theology of his Orthodox experiences began to rise in importance for him. Within months he sought entrance into the Orthodox Church. Having no practical experience in American Orthodox situation, he visited former classmates from Rome who had also embraced Orthodoxy. Through the parish priest of St. Mary parish in Cleveland, Ohio, Fr. Popp was introduced to Archbishop [[Valerian (Trifa) of Detroit|Valerian (Trifa)]] of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, MI 49240-0309
OfficeUnder the guidance of Archbishop Valerian, Fr. Popp was examined by the Episcopate Council and received into the Orthodox faith at St. Mary [[Chapel]] at ‘’Vatra’’ on [[February 15]], 1968. After residing in a [[Monasticism|monastic]] community for several years, Fr. Popp became the priest of Holy Cross Parish in Hermitage, Pennsylvania in 1975. On [[September 20]], 1980, a Special Electoral Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America called Fr. Nathaniel to the episcopate as an [[auxiliary bishop]] to Abp. Valerian. On [[November 15]], 1980, Fr. Nathaniel was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] [[Bishop]] of Dearborn Heights, as an auxiliary bishop to Abp. Valerian. He served as auxiliary bishop until 1984, when Abp. Valerian retired. On [[November 17]], 1984, Bishop Nathaniel became the ruling hierarch of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America. On [[October 20]], 1999, the [[Holy Synod]] of the OCA elevated him to the rank of archbishop. Archbishop Nathaniel traveled to Romania in May 2003, where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Oradea. {{start box}}{{succession|title=Bishop of Dearborn Heights|before=?|after=?|years=1980–1984}}{{succession|title=[[Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (OCA)|Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate]]|before=[[Valerian (Trifa) of Detroit|Valerian (Trifa)]]|after=—|years=1984–present}}{{end box}} ==External links==*[https://roea.orthodoxws.com/biography1 Official biography]*[http://www.roea.org/+NPastoral.htm Pastoral letters] (also in [http://www.roea.org/+NPastorale.htm Romanian])<!-- *[http: 517//orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/resources/hierarchs/oca/current.htm#nathaniel_arch Listing] at the Orthodox Research Institute-522-4800->Fax[[Category: 517Bishops]][[Category:Bishops of Dearborn Heights]][[Category:Bishops of Detroit]][[Category: 20th-52221st-5907century bishops]][[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity|Popp]][[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity from Roman Catholicism|Popp]] [[ro:Nathaniel (Popp) de Detroit]]
updated biography link, commented out broken link
The Most Reverend '''Nathaniel''', [[Archbishop ]] of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate , presides over the * [[Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (OCA)|Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America]], an [[ethic ethnic diocese]] of the [[Orthodox Church in America]]. He is also the founder and president of the [[St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies]].
