Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit (

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...

William George Popp; born June 12, 1940) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n Orthodox clergyman, the current

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the Orthodox Church in America's Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America.Romanian Orthodox Church of America-Nathaniel Popp
/ref>The Most Reverend Nathanial - OCA
/ref>

Biography

Born to a

Romanian-American Romanian Americans () are Americans who have Romanian ancestry. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, 425,738 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, which a ...

family in

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1966, in the

Romanian Greek-Catholic Church The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome is a ''sui iuris'' Eastern Catholic Church, in full union with the Catholic Church. It has the rank of a Major Archbishop, Major Archiepiscopal Church and it uses the Byzanti ...

. He soon left the Catholic Eastern Rite and, under the guidance of Archbishop

Valerian Trifa Valerian Trifa (; secular name Viorel Donise Trifa ; June 28, 1914 – January 28, 1987) was a Romanian Orthodox cleric who served as an archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate Of America. He was accused of being a fascist political acti ...

of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, converted to

Orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

on February 15, 1968. After residing in a

monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

community for several years, Fr. Popp became the rector of Holy Cross Romanian Orthodox Church in

Hermitage, Pennsylvania Hermitage is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,230 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the largest city in Mercer County. It is located about northeast of Youngstown and abo ...

. On November 15, 1980, Fr. Nathaniel was consecrated Bishop of

Dearborn Heights Dearborn Heights is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Dearborn Heights is located about west of downtown Detroit. The city shares a small border with Detroit, and is considered a bedroom c ...

, as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

to Archbishop Valerian Trifa. He served as 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

in May 2003, where he was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the University of Oradea. Following the resignation of Metropolitan

Jonah (Paffhausen) Metropolitan Jonah (born James Paffhausen, Jr.; October 20, 1959) is a retired American Eastern Orthodox bishop who served as the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) with the title ''The Most Blessed Archbishop of Washington, Metropo ...

in July 2012, Bishop Nathaniel was appointed as the ''

locum tenens A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...

'' of the OCA.

References

External links

Biography

Orthodoxwiki
1940 births Living people Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Catholicism People from Aurora, Illinois American people of Romanian descent Former Roman Catholics {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub