Despite taking maximum points from their first three matches, including away wins in Hungary and Greece, Michael O'Neill's men were under siege for the entirety of the encounter.
Yet their backs-to-the-wall defence looked as though it would yield a vital draw until right-back Papp struck in the 74th and 79th minutes to seal a 2-0 win for the new Group F leaders.
Romania sit top on 10 points, with Northern Ireland on nine, Hungary on seven and Finland four.
Scotland confirmed their 2016 European Championship qualifying credentials with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Republic of Ireland thanks to a wonderful second-half strike by Shaun Maloney
Gordon Strachan's side had the best of a tense, frenetic first-half at Celtic Park but passed up a couple of good chances to take the lead.
The visitors came out rejuvenated after the break but Scotland regained control with Wigan forward Maloney curling the ball past David Forde in the 75th minute with technique fit to win any game.
Germany picked up their obligatory group win over Gibraltar but the expected flurry of goals failed to arrive as they only managed to win 4-0 in Nuremberg.
Thomas Muller was on target twice with Mario Gotze raising Germany's lead to three before half-time. An own goal from Yogan Santos midway through the second half made it four but World Cup winners Germany were unable to add any more.
Faroe Islands pulled off one of the biggest shocks in international football when they won 1-0 in Greece on Friday.
The win in Athens is easily their greatest victory on the world stage, but their success in European Championship qualifying group F piles on the misery for Greece boss Claudio Ranieri.
Since joining competitive international football in 1990, the Faroes had only ever won four away games -- against fellow minnows Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino. But now they can toast victory against a nation who just 10 years ago were crowned European champions.
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