Indeed, the Illinois Supreme Court overlooked the
clear substantive canonical violations for which the Church disciplined Dionisije, violations
based on Dionisije's conceded open defiance and rebellion against the church hierarchy immediately after the Holy Assembly's decision to
suspend him (a decision which even the Illinois courts deemed to be proper) and Dionisije's decision to litigate the Mother Church's authority
in the civil courts rather than participate
in the disciplinary proceedings before the Holy Synod and the Holy Assembly.