Throughout this past year, Facebook has demanded all account names be changed to actual legal names, in order to avoid fake profiles, stalking and online crime.
The procedure of the name change demands you message a photo of your ID to the Facebook team, so that they can certify the account belongs to a person.

Religious figures such as priests, monks and nuns have even been asked to do the same, providing evidence of their legal names.

In most cases, even if a person requests a nickname, Facebook chooses to register the full given name and surname as it is shown on official documents.

Abbot Tryphon, a monk at the All-Merciful Saviour Monastery in Vashon Island, Washington, has started a petition requesting that the online platform allow religious figures to keep their clergy names.

The website change.org has gathered over 5,000 signatures in a few days.

Priests nowadays connect with the members of their parishes via social media accounts, answering many cries for help and offering spiritual guidance on a daily basis.

“More than 30 years ago I gave up my given name and became Tryphon when I took my life vows in becoming an Orthodox Christian monk, and I haven’t used my birth name since,” said Abbot Tryphon.

“Even my own family calls me Abbot Tryphon – it was also the name I used when I started my Facebook account.

“I was told I was prohibited from using Facebook until I used my given name,” he added.

The monk, who had thousands of followers and people he connected to, fears they believe he has abandoned them.

The monk says that although he could prove who he was and that he was a legitimate member of the clergy, Facebook refused to reactivate his account.
“Facebook must change this policy,” he insisted.

“My ability to centralise my daily blogs and podcasts is now gone, as is the ability to administer our monastery’s Facebook page, until I get this resolved.”

Those impacted by the policy understand Facebook thinks it is protecting its users from people who would use an alias to do bad things.

“All we are asking is a fair process to allow the use of an alternative name when there is good evidence that this is the person’s true identity,” Abbot Tryphon concluded.