HCEF elected two new directors.

The Board of Directors of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Has elected two new directors: Fr. Peter Ruggere, a Maryknoll priest, and Mr. William R. Mapes, Jr., an attorney and partner in the Washington law firm of Ross, Marsh & Foster.

“These two experienced gentlemen bring knowledge and talent to our Board,” HCEF president Rateb Y. Rabie said. “As we move into our second year their presence will lend great strength and stability to our efforts.”

Fr. Ruggere and Mr. Mapes were elected to succeed Fr. Labib Kobti, pastor of St. Anne Church in San Francisco, CA., and Dr. Jack B. Fellows, president of life Center International – America, Inc., and World Wide Witnesses, Inc., respectively. Both Father Kobti and Dr. Fellows are founding members of the HCEF Board of Directors. Each found that new pursuits in 1999 precluded them from fully participating in HCEF Board efforts. Father Kobti was recently assigned an additional parish in San Francisco. Dr. Fellows’ humanitarian interests in Yugoslavia took him out of the country for extended periods of time. Although both resigned as HCEF directors, they each will retain close ties to the HCEF in areas of their expertise, Fr. Kobti in human rights issues in the Middle East and Dr. Fellows in fund-raising and education.

Father Ruggere was ordained in 1968 and holds a Master of Arts degree in theology. He successfully completed doctoral studies in Theology at the Institute Catholique in Paris, France but has not completed his thesis. He speaks English, Spanish, French and colloquial Arabic. Still in his forties, Fr. Ruggere has wide experience in the third world beginning in Lima, Peru where he first was named director of lay leadership formation, then as associate professor of Theology in the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru where he taught for ten years. His last responsibilities in Peru were to oversee the turnover of Maryknoll efforts to the local church. For the next two years he took a sabbatical with the Maryknoll Group in Cairo, Egypt where he taught English at the Catholic Coptic seminary. This experience heightened his interest in the Middle East. Upon return to the US he worked with the seminary formation staff and taught at Maryknoll School of Theology, Maryknoll, New York. For three years he was Rector of the Priesthood Formation Program preparing seminarians for ordination. From 1993 to 1996 he worked with the Catholic Church’s Caritas (Catholic Charities) program in Cairo and North Africa. He currently is assigned to the Maryknoll Father’s and Brothers Justice and Peace Office in Washington. He has been an active participant in all HCEF activities this year.

Mr. Mapes is an attorney and partner in a highly regarded Washington, DC, law firm with a practice primarily in the areas of administrative and energy law and civil litigation. His practices primarily before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. District Courts and United States Courts of Appeal. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of the newsletter of the American Bar Association’s Section on Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment, and is the former Vice-Chair of that Section’s Natural Gas Marketing and Transportation Committee. He also has served as Chairman of the Federal Energy Bar Association’s Ratemaking Committee. He represents gas pipelines and natural gas local distribution companies, marketers and producers in regulatory, ratemaking and certification matters at FERC. This has given him extensive experience with environmental regulation by the FERC. He also has extensive experience in the electricity field. He also is president of the consulting firm Resource Development Group, LLC (RDG), which was created to assist in the development of energy and other international infrastructure projects, specializing in the Middle East, especially a privatization resource project in Jordan.

The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land and to build solidarity between American Christians and Palestinian Christians in order to improve the quality of life Christians in the Holy Land. The Foundation may be contacted by called 301-871-9222, or by FAX at 301-871-2277, by e-mail at rabie@hcef.org. The Foundation’s web site address is www.hcef.org.