During the Italian occupation, Ichege Gebre Giyorgis lived in exile in Jerusalem, where he remained in touch with the Arbegnoch, or resistance fighters inside Ethiopia.

As Margary Perham notes, "The photographs of that dramatic moment when the Emperor stepped across the frontier in the wild region of the Upper Dinder and unfurled his flag, show the Ichegé, a fine figure of a man in his flowing black ceremonial robes, standing beside him.

Ichege Gebre Giyorgis was consecrated by the Coptic Pope Yussab II as Archbishop of Ethiopia with the name and style of Abuna Basilios July 1948 during a ceremony held at the Patriarchate of Saint Mark in Egypt.

During a solemn ceremony in 1959, in the presence of the Emperor, he was consecrated the first Patriarch Catholicos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church by the Coptic Pope Kirillos VI at St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo.

The Imperial Guard announced that the Emperor and his government were deposed, that Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen (Amha Selassie) would serve as a constitutional monarch, and that reforms would be implemented.

Abuna Basilios refused to recognize this act and proclaimed that the Imperial Guard had no authority to depose an Emperor who had been anointed by the Church, and pronounced an anathema against those who took part or supported the coup.

In order to make sure that no Imperial Army units deserted to the other side, the Patriarch had toured the barracks of the 4th Division in Addis Ababa and promised that the soldiers, who had long complained of poor pay, would receive a significant raise when the Emperor returned.

Upon his return, Emperor Haile Selassie was told of the Patriarch's promise to the soldiers, but stated such a raise could not be honored at the time because there simply wasn't enough money in government coffers to do so.

He left more and more of his duties to Abuna Theophilos, and spent more time resting and praying at the monastery, rarely making an appearance at the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa or at the Imperial Court.