Belaia Kniga. Zhizn' i Deiatel'nost' Arkhiepiskopa Afanasiia

Buenos Aires: Obshchestva Pochitatelei Ego Vysokopreosviashchenstva Arkhiepiskopa Afanasiia, 1971. Softcover. First edition; 7 x 10 1/2; pp. 64; off-white wraps printed in dark blue; mild age-toning along margins; a few crease lines to corners; several small nicks to edges, mostly to back wrap; illustrated with portrait frontis and photographs; very good condition.'The White Book' - part biography and part archive of documents, letters, and articles - was published by supporters of Archbishop Afanasii of Buenos Aires as a response to allegations against him by parishioners and immigrants in Argentina and Australia. Archbishop Afanasii (Anton Martos) was born near Nesvizh, Belarus in 1904. After holding various positions in his country, in 1946 he moved to Hamburg where he worked with his compatriots at the Fishbeck DP Camp. In 1950 Afanasii was appointed Bishop in Sidney, Australia and in 1956 with the death of Archbishop Ioasaf in Argentina Afanasii took his spot and sailed to Buenos Aires. On the one hand, he was known to work with the Russian emigre youth, publish a religious journal, and manage to secure funds for buying land and, ultimately, building an Orthodox cathedral for his parishioners in Buenos Aires; on the other hand, in a series of letters and articles, he was accused of "defiantly refusing to condemn Communism," never speaking of Russia, and of altogether professing anti-Russian sentiments. The publication of the book was the ultimate refutation to the "slanderous and false efforts of wicked men."