Born William George Popp, in Aurora, Illinois, on June 12, 1940, Archbishop Nathaniel was the third of five children born to Joseph Popp, immigrant from Ardud, County of Satu Mare and Vera nee Boytor who was born of parents from Supuru de Jos and Teghea, County of Satu Mare. Aurora was the center for a very large Greek Catholic Community, most of which came from County Satu Mare at the turn of the 20th Century.
After attending local primary and secondary schools, 1958-62, William attended Saint Procopius College, a liberal arts school in Lisle, Illinois run by Benedictine monks originally from Slovakia. This was also a "Pontifical Eastern Rite Center" for the United States, and from here, much more was learned about the history, origins, and purposes of the Greek Catholic Churches. At this time, his childhood desire to study for the priesthood was initiated. His Bachelor of Arts Thesis was Arnold Toynbee's Theory of History, which he prepared under the guidance of Dom Christian Cephleca, O.S.B., Dr. University of Salamonca, Spain.
Called to Rome, Italy by Romanian Greek Catholic Bishop, Vasile Cristea, he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University and resided at the Athanasium - Greek College. While there, the rituals, canons, and practical spiritual life of the Byzantine Rite were learned and lived with students from Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Calabria and Sicily.
During the years of 1962-66, he was witness to the activities of the Second Vatican Council which was held during this time. He traveled to Germany, Greece and throughout Italy. In 1964, he visited Mount Athos for a few weeks time and felt the mystical and powerful spirit of the Holy Mountain. His comment at this time was, "If only the monks were not Orthodox!" Actually, his first visit to an Orthodox church was at this time. The spirituality deeply moved him but the interior conflict of history and loyalty to the "Unia" made him keep Orthodoxy at a distance. It was on Mount Athos that one of the spiritual fathers "bestowed" on him his name of "Nathaniel."
Having completed his studies, he was ordained into the diaconate on July 17, 1966 at Colle de Tora, "San' Anatolia" summer chapel of the "Collegio Greco" by Bishop Cristea and on October 23, 1966, he was ordained in the Romanian Uniate Church, "San Salvatore in Coppele" Rome by the same hierarch. In January of 1967, he returned to the United States and was appointed Assistant Priest to Saint Michael parish by the Latin Bishop, Loras T. Lane of Rockford, Illinois under whose jurisdiction the Aurora parishes were listed. Parish priest was Msr. Basil Mărchiş, one-time secretary to Greek Catholic Bishop Frenţiu of Oradea.
The spirituality, theology and call of Orthodoxy which had been dormant began to beckon and within a matter of months, he laid aside the Unia and sought entrance into the Orthodox Church. At this time, his practical knowledge of American ecclesiological realty was unknown to him. Having left the Aurora parish, he visited with classmates from Rome who had also embraced Orthodoxy and were serving in various "jurisdictions" in North America.
Through Fr. Vasile Haţegan, parish priest of St. Mary parish, Cleveland, Ohio, he was introduced to Bishop Valerian D. Trifa who made a thorough investigation and put the acceptance of the young priest to the vote of the Episcopate Council which accepted him into the ranks of the Episcopate clergy. On February 15, 1968, he was received into the Orthodox faith at "St. Mary Chapel," Vatra Românească by Father Haţegan, witnessed by Bishop Valerian.
Working under Bishop Valerian, with Archimandrite Roman Braga, he translated liturgical texts from Romanian into contemporary English and assisted Fr. Braga in writing new Byzantine music to the English texts: Divine Liturgy, Holy Matrimony, Funeral Services, Unison Liturgical Responses, all bi-lingual.
In 1975, he was appointed Parish Priest of the Holy Cross Parish, Hermitage, Pennsylvania where he served until called to the Episcopacy five years later. During this time he continued to be confessor to the monastics and also co-founded an "Inter-Orthodox" Women's Association in the area, a pan-Orthodox union of Romanian, Carpatho-Russian, Serbian, Greek and Ukrainian women.
In 1978, he was one of two representatives for the Orthodox Church in America to the Conference on Monasticism in Cairo, Egypt. He has been an active member of the diocesan Liturgical Commission, Late Vocations Program, Episcopate Council, and Youth Advisor. During this time, he continued to paint "icons-on-glass," (icoane pe sticlă) and was author of a booklet, Holy Icons. Father Nathaniel wrote for the diocesan newspaper and was a much-traveled lecturer in the general Orthodox public.
On September 20, 1980, following nearly a year of study and planning, a Special Electoral Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America was held in St. Mary Church, Cleveland, Ohio called in response to Archbishop Valerian Trifa's request for assistance in the archpastoral leadership of his far-flung diocese and which proved to be the largest congress in the history of the diocese that the people called Father Nathaniel to the hierarchy as Auxiliary Bishop. On the feast of the Transylvanian Martyrs, Sofronie, Visarion, and Oprea, October 21, 1980, that the priest "Nathaniel," professed the Angelic vows at the St. Mary Chapel Vatra Românească to Archbishop Valerian and when he officially received the name, "Nathaniel." At this time, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
Archimandrite Nathaniel was consecrated November 15, 1980, in the Diocesan Cathedral of Saint George by Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazar: OCA); Archbishop Valerian; Bishop Christophor (Serbian Patriarchate); Bishop Kyrill (Bulgarian); Bishops Dmitri, Boris and Mark (OCA). He was installed as Bishop of Dearborn, Saints Peter and Paul Church as his cathedral.
Bishop Nathaniel was an active member of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America since his consecration in 1980; participant at the World Council of Churches 7th Assembly, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;
In 1984, after the retirement of Archbishop Valerian D Trifa, Bishop Nathaniel was elected Titular Bishop of the Episcopate. He is Episcopal Moderator for the Pastoral Life MinistriesUnit (OCA); Chairman of the Romanian American Heritage Center, Grass Lake, Michigan; organizer of the "Help for Romania Fund, " and co-founder of "Help the Children of Romania," 1990; Chairman of Congress of Romanian Americans (CORA) 1991; Member of the Board of "Moldovita Project," 1982; elevated to the rank of Archbishop on October 20, 1999, by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America.
In 1994, desiring to fulfill the longing to visit Romania, Bishop Nathaniel made a pilgrimage to visit all parts of Romania. In 1995, at the invitation of His Holiness, Teoctist, he was a guest of the Patriarchate for the celebration of the 150th anniversary celebration.
During his 15 years as ruling hierarch, Archbishop Nathaniel has blessed the founding of thirty-one new missions and one monastery of nuns.
