Dionisije Milivojević

Dionisije Milivojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Дионисије Миливојевић; 26 July 1898 – 15 May 1979) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop who served as Bishop of America and Canada from 1939 to 1964.

In his youth, he was one of the leaders of the evangelical which won the support of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović.

In 1964, he severed ties with the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate in Belgrade, which he considered to be under the control of the Yugoslav Communist regime, and formed the Free Serbian Orthodox Church. He was a vocal anti-communist and believed that the clergy in Yugoslavia had acquiesced to the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia too easily, and asserted the independence of the congregations of the SOC in North America and Australia.

Early life Dionisije was born Dragoljub Milivojević on 26 July 1898 in Rabrovac near Smederevska Palanka. After graduating from gymnasium, he enrolled at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. Two years later, he enrolled at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Orthodox Theology where he graduated.

Upon graduation, he got married. His wife died shortly afterward, whereupon he went to Hilandar Monastery, where he received tonsure and was given the monastic name of Dionisije. Before he was elevated to the position of Vicar Bishop, he was the head of a monastery, a professor at the seminary in Sremski Karlovci, and the head of the monastic school in Dečani Monastery. At the same time, he was one of the leaders of the , in which he had been active since his student days. He edited the organization's newspaper Christian Community, until 1933.

Bishop of America and Canada in the SOC He took over the administration of the Diocese of America and Canada on 15 April 1940, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II.

A new delegation met with Dionisije in July 1963, when he presented them with a written response to their letter. At the same time, he published announcements against the Assembly, claiming that everything they did was to appease the communist regime in Belgrade. He was removed from the position of bishop at an extraordinary assembly on 27 July 1963. Dionisije then called upon all parishes opposed to Belgrade to join him, and called upon a church-popular assembly on 10–14 November 1963 when all decisions from Belgrade were dismissed until the fall of communism. Dionisije's successor, Irinej Kovačević, was consecrated at this assembly.

The row even split the exiled royal family. King Peter II originally sided with the raskolnici, but later retracted his support. Prince Andrew supported the raskolnici, and Princes Tomislav and Alexander the federalci. Peter II was interred in the Saint Sava Monastery in 1970, still under the control of Dionisije-loyals. It is alleged either that this signifies his renewed support for Dionisije before death, or that his corpse was taken from the Denver hospital where he died without permission.

Dionisije was forced to leave the church's seat in Saint Sava Monastery and transferred to the nearby Grayslake following a court ruling in favor of the SOC with regards to ownership of the monastery. He and Metropolitan Irinej Kovačević built a new seat, the New Gračanica Monastery in Third Lake, Illinois. It was completed in 1984.

Starting in 1977, the group assumed the name Free Serbian Orthodox Church. It was canonically reconciled with the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1992, after the demise of Communism in Yugoslavia.

He died on 15 May 1979 at Saint Sava Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois. He was buried by the monastery's church.