Sydney  - A 75-year-old Australian priest who is defying his archbishop's request to retire received a show of popular support in his Melbourne parish Sunday.

More than 400 people turned up for Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Church and gave Rev Bob Maguire a standing ovation as he arrived.

During the service, local mayor Frank O'Connor said it wasn't time to close Maguire's 36 years of service in the parish.

"The archbishop seems to be asking Bob to retire because he doesn't like the way he spends money on the poor and needy," he said.

O'Connor urged Archbishop Denis Hart to relent, noting that Father Maguire had received one of the nation's highest honours for his work with the poor.

"We won't be manning the barricades and we won't be storming the cathedral office. We'll do this with respect," he said.

Maguire has until Thursday to hand in his retirement notice or face dismissal.

"The rich and powerful Catholic neocons have had enough of my style, valued as it may be by secular society," Maguire said. dpa