Archbishop Peter was born as Paul L'Huillier on [[December 3]], 1926, in Paris, France. He embraced the Orthodox faith in 1945 while enrolled at the [[Seminaries#France|St. Denys Institute]] in Paris. His Eminence L'Huillier also did graduate work at the University of Paris and received a Licentiate of [[Theology]] from the [[Seminary|Moscow Theological Academy]] in 1962 and a Doctorate of [[Canons (law)|Canon Law]] degree in 1985.

The archbishop began his ecclesiastical life on [[August 30]], 1954, when he was [[tonsure]]d [[Monk]] Peter. On [[September 4]] and [[September 5|5]], 1954, he was [[ordination|ordained]] [[hierodeacon]] and [[hieromonk]] by Abp. Boris, [[Exarch]] of the Russian [[Patriarchate]] in Europe. His priestly work took place at two Orthodox churches in Paris, Three Hierarchs and the Church of our Lady the Joy of Those who Sorrow. In 1960, Abp. Peter was elevated to the rank of [[Archimandrite]]. On [[September 12]], 1968, the [[feast]] of St. [[Alexander Nevsky]] at the former St. Alexander Nevsky [[Monastery]] (Lavra) in St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad), Abp. Peter was consecrated Bishop of Chersonese. Participating at that consecration were the Metropolitan of Leningrad, [[Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad|Nikodim (Rotov)]] and [[Metropolitan]] [[Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh]].

As [[bishop]], he was a member of the mother Russian Orthodox Church , which granted [[autocephaly]] to the [[Orthodox Church in America]]. In 1979, he was invited to come to the young autocephalous church by His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius. He was designated as an [[auxiliary bishop]] to the Metropolitan, with the title of "Bishop of Brooklyn" until 1981.

In the academic world, he lectured at the Institute of St. Denys, Paris, France, from 1949 to 1950. From 1952 to 1962, he taught at the Three Hierarchs Seminary in Villemoisson, France. He was a Professor at the Catholic University in Paris from 1966 to 1978. He was Adjunct Professor of Canon Law at [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir's Seminary]], Crestwood, New York, since 1979. As a specialist in Orthodox Canon Law, Archbishop Peter occupied prominent positions. His final book, published by St. Vladimir's Press, argued that urged the Orthodox Church should abandon its traditional Churches to adopt the Western Christian calculation of Easter calculation , or [[Paschalion]] . This has been a controversial topic for some time in favor Eastern Orthodox circles. Some critics of Archbishop Peter's book emphasized that only the Eastern Paschalion holds to the Nicene Council's 4th century prohibition on celebrating the Resurrection before the Jewish Passover. Abandoning it could imply a subtle subtext of anti-Semitism, they argued, since it would mean further decoupling the connection between Christianity and Judaism. This criticism is made on both historical and contemporary grounds, the latter being that Western usageChristianity annually ignores contemporary Jews' calculation of Passover.

In light of Abp. Peter's retirement, the members of the Holy Synod decided to establish the new [[Diocese of Washington and New York (OCA)|Diocese of Washington and New York]], composed of the former [[Diocese of New York and New Jersey (OCA)|Diocese of New York and New Jersey]] and the [[Diocese of Washington (OCA)|Diocese of Washington]], effective [[April 30]], 20052009. The move was a return to the diocesan boundaries and structure that had existed until 1981, when the Diocese of Washington was created as the seat of the OCA [[Primate]].