Fr. Mitescu was born on May 2, 1938, in Bucharest, Romania. He attended McGill University and received his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). He studied under the Episcopate’s Late Vocations program and the OCA Diocese of the West Late Vocations program.
In 1972, Catalin Mitescu married Nicole Danily Langley. She attended Trinity College, University of Toronto and the University of California at Riverside. She was active with the Ladies’ Auxiliary at Holy Trinity and served on the Parish Council of Holy Trinity and St. Anne, They have three children: Anna Catherine, Natalie Claire and Emilie Nicole.
On July 6, 1980, he was ordained to the diaconate by Archbishop Valerian (Trifa) at the Vatra during the Episcopate Congress. He served at Holy Trinity Church, Los Angeles, California (1980-1993). On February 15th, 1987, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Bishop Nathaniel (Popp) at Holy Trinity Church in Los Angeles, CA, and was assigned as Assistant Priest at Holy Trinity Church and Administrator of the Claremont Colleges Mission (later named St. John the Evangelist Mission) in Claremont, CA. Since 1993, he has served at St. Anne Orthodox Church, Pomona, CA. Fr. Catalin became an Archpriest in March, 2007.
Fr. Mitescu was very involved with the Southern California Orthodox Clergy Council, serving as Secretary and President of the organization. He was president of the Spiritual Consistory and member of the Spiritual Tribunal of the ROEA. He also served as the Chair of the Department of Missions and a member of the Joint Dialogue Commission of the ROEA.
On November 8, 2015, with the blessing of Archbishop Nathaniel, Father Catalin officially retired from the active priesthood and oversight of St. Anne’s. He continued to regularly attend St. Anne’s and co-celebrate the Divine Liturgy until his passing in 2021.