South Melbourne's Father Bob Maguire said priests from abroad would probably fill the void left by retiring local priests. "The headquarters has got some kind of pious thought that they're going to be able to get priests from around the world where there's a surplus," he was quoted as saying by The Age.
"Now that's beautiful, I love it, we're universalists but at the same time the local culture would say: 'Excuse me, can we have our local culture priority one with a migrant priest that receives education in the local culture because it's not fair to him or the local culture'."
Fr Maguire will mark his 75th birthday on Monday by writing to Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart with a refusal to step down, the report added.
The newspaper quoted retired North Balwyn priest and statistician Eric Hodgens warning that Victoria will only have one quarter of the priests it needs as the majority of priests, who were ordained between 1955 and 1975, reach retirement age or die.
In the Hunter Valley in NSW, priests have been recruited from India. Fr Maguire said enforcing the retirement age would result in more foreign priests being called upon.
He said another way to deal with the shortage of clerics was for parishioners to have a greater role in the running of churches.
Victorian Premier John Brumby reportedly said that Fr Maguire's retirement was a Church issue, but that the well loved priest still had plenty to offer the community and the Government might consider what other role he could play.
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