February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Fr. Robert O’Donnell is pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church at 415 W. 59th St., near Lincoln Center, and was attacked outside his church at around 12:50 a.m. and left with a wound on his left cheek that required 100 stitches to close. His wallet was also taken by the attacker, who fled in a car driven by another man.
O’Donnell, who’s 54, was not wearing his clerical collar at the time, and was taken to Roosevelt Hospital for treatment where he was resting comfortably at the weekend, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Fr. Michael Evernden of the Paulist Fathers said O’Donnell, who has been pastor of the church since January, addressed a fraternity at Columbia University earlier in the evening and then went out with friends.
Evernden said he and O’Donnell, who have been friends for more than 30 years, had often talked about the possibility of being mugged in the neighborhood and both had agreed they would not resist.
“He feels that you just give them the money,” Evernden said. “He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t do violence to anyone. I think it was just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He said the area has become safer in recent years. “This was an iffy neighborhood in the ’70s, but there are not too many problems around here these days,” Evernden said.
He said O’Donnell, a New York native whose last assignment was in Chicago, is a popular pastor who holds a doctorate in American history.
“He’s made a very solid impression on the parish,” Evernden said. “He’s a very good preacher, eloquent and learned.”