His successor as Coptic Orthodox Pope, Cyril VI, elevated Abune Basilios to the exalted rank of Patriarch in 1959. The title of Abuna is now held by all the numerous Archbishops and Bishops of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Ichege — the abbot of the monastery of Debre Libanos, who served as the second highest ecclesiastic of the Ethiopian church, and was often the de facto head of that church.[3] Margary Perham describes the position as comparable to a Vicar-General.[4] Beginning in the mid-17th century, the Ichege lived at Gondar while the capital was in that city.