In 1981, the Diocese of New York and New Jersey became one of the local dioceses under its own hierarch, Bp. [[Peter (L'Huillier) of New York|Peter]] with his see at the Holy Protection Cathedral.

The formation of the Diocese of Washington included the areas of the Capital proper (District of Columbia), Maryland, southern Delaware, and northern Virginia. The [[St. Nicholas Cathedral (Washington, D.C.)|St. Nicholas Cathedral]] in Washington was the see for the Metropolitan. At its inception the new diocese included only a few parishes, those in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas. During the following two decades after formation of the diocese a number of new parishes formed as the population of the diocese increased.