On December 15, 2011, the Bond zonder Naam received the prestigious Pantheon prize in recognition of its interfaith work. Bond zonder Naam – in English: Movement without a Name (MWN) – is a URI Cooperation Circle in Belgium. It was founded 50 years ago and is active in various areas empowering people to act for the common good.
Rev. Patrick Hanjoul, MWN’s director, who is also the president of URI Europe, received the prize on BZN’s behalf. The award ceremony took place in Antwerp’s town hall in the presence of approx. 80 guests and media.
The prize is dedicated by the Faculty For Comparative Study of Religions (FVG) in Antwerp, a pluralist academic institution teaching comparative religion and philosophy.
Patrick Hanjoul and MWN have been involved with the United Religions Initiative (URI) from the beginning and have supported the world wide network. For many years Patrick Hanjoul serves as President or URI Europe. In 2007 MWN hosted the URI Global Council meeting in Antwerp. On that occasion the “Interfaith Symphony”, an interfaith celebration, brought together choirs and presenters from various faith traditions and convictions and was attended by 1.200 guests.
In past years, MWN used to focus its initiatives on people on the edge of society. The first sheltered workshop in Flanders, the first ex-prisoners' and women's shelters were initiatives launched by MWN. Without neglecting its initial target groups, it has taken on other challenges as well, and developed programmes such as: Values in motion, Children´s rights and parental counselling, Poverty reduction and equal opportunity law, Interfaith dialogue, and the Search for meaning.
