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==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 19661958, after completing primary and secondary schooling, he William entered St. Procopius College in Lisle, Illinois that was a “Pontifical Eastern Rite Center” run by [[ordinationRule of St. Benedict|ordainedBenedictine]] to the [[Presbyter|priesthoodmonk]] in s where he studied the history, origins, and purposes of the Romanian [[Uniate]] Greek Catholic Church. He soon left Upon graduation in 1962, William was called to Rome, Italy by the Unia andRomanian Greek Catholic bishop, Vasile Cristea, under to study at the guidance of Archbishop [[Valerian (Trifa) of Detroit|Valerian (Trifa)]] of Pontifical Gregorian University and the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of AmericaAthanasium Greek College, [[convert]]ed to Orthodoxy on [[February 15]]studying the rites, 1968. After residing in a [[Monasticism|monastic]] community for several yearscanons, Fr. Popp became and the [[rector]] spiritual life of a parish in Hermitage, Pennsylvaniathe Byzantine Rite.

During these college years, 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.” Upon 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,  Under 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.

*[httphttps://wwwroea.roeaorthodoxws.orgcom/bio-nathaniel.htm biography1 Official biography]

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