From 1953 the Rosminians at St Marie's began celebrating Mass for Catholics in Bilton in a variety of premises. A church was built and a parish established in 1959. It was taken over from the Rosminians and a diocesan priest appointed to the parish the following year. The parish priests have been as follows:

Mgr Bernard Navin 1960-1965
Fr Edward Kirner 1965-1979
Fr Alec McGavin 1979-1982
Fr Paul Chamberlain 1982-2002
Fr Joe Mullen IC 2002-2007
Fr Ted Mullen IC 2007-present

For some six months till February 2003, the parish managed without a resident priest with weekend masses provided among others by Canon Tom Farrell, Fr Michael Brandon and St Marie's. As from then the Rosminians have agreed with the diocese to provide a resident priest for five years.

Since June 2003 the parish has also had a deacon, John Burrows, who has played a full ministerial role. It has often been possible to call on Fr Michael Brandon who lives in the parish. Since 1983 there has been a team of Eucharistic Ministers who regularly assist at mass, take communion to the sick and lead the Ministry of the Word and distribute communion when no priest is available.

The Catholic population grew to some thousand by the end of the 70s but, due to the general decline in practice, such figures have become unreliable and the emphasis instead has been on the annual mass count (see below). Sacred Heart has a large proportion of professional members.

A significant development affecting the parish is that of Cawston Grange, a large housing estate to the west, which is still growing but is eventually expected to have 1,400 dwellings. A number of families now attend Sacred Heart and there is already a new primary school on the estate which has had an impact on numbers attending St Marie's schools in the town.

Following the Second Vatican Council, there was at first some opposition to changes in the liturgy but, supported by a number of outside speakers, a lively interest was generated and a strong tradition of participation and singing grew up. In the 1980s members of the parish were involved in a temporary reordering of the sanctuary, but in 1993 the reordering of the whole church was completed with an immersion font, a new Blessed Sacrament Chapel, a quiet room, a youth room and a library.

There was also a new narthex giving direct access to the hall extended in 1991. All this was made financially possible through an arrangement with the diocese involving the transfer of a plot of land in Clifton that had been bequeathed jointly to the parish along with Hillmorton. The church was dedicated by the Archbishop in April 1998.

A Garden of Remembrance was blessed at the side of the church and a number of parishioners are now able to scatter the ashes of their departed loved ones.

From the early days there was a strong move to found a Catholic primary school in Bilton but the application was rejected by the DES in 1973. Since the baptismal rate was falling in later years the case was dropped. There was therefore a concern to provide religious education for children in the parish and with the help initially of sisters at St Marie's and then of staff and students from St Paul's, regular classes were arranged.

In 1983, Diane Davies was appointed as parish catechist to establish sacramental programmes with a team of helpers. A parish RCIA programme, a children's liturgy and a Bible reflection group were also set up. In 1986 Diane also became a part-time parish secretary/pastoral assistant.

There have been a number of missions aimed at spiritual renewal: in 1973 led by Fr Tim Buckley (CSSR); in 1983 by CMS; in 2002 by CMS again. Meanwhile Fr Buckley returned to lead a parish retreat and others were led by Sr Sharon (PCJ) from Southam and Sr Madeleine Prendergast (LSU).

The parish council, established as long ago as 1969, has been responsible over the years for a strong emphasis on adult formation, ecumenism, justice & peace and caring in the local community. It has also heard about UCM activities, organised social events and received reports on parish finances. In 1994 the parish project (part of the National RE Programme) was begun leading two years later to a day involving about a third of the parish. In this way future priorities were identified.

Two years later a parish survey was carried out attempting to identify our resources and a further day explored how Sacred Heart could be more effectively ‘a community for others'. The outcomes from these days are summarised in a later section. The parish's Child Protection Officer is Kath Gladstone.

In the lead up to the 1997 General Election the parish set up a meeting with each of the candidates in turn to quiz them about their responses to The Common Good.

In 2005, Sacred Heart hosted a day's reflection for Rugby Parishes attended by some 60 people. Around the theme of Communion & Mission some key issues were identified and it was decided to reconvene an area council. At its inaugural meeting, Rugby Catholics Together (RCT) decided to focus on the main issues coming out of the day: Collaborative Ministry, Adult Education, Justice & Peace, Interfaith and Youth.

The parish website was founded in 2005 and development work continues. It has now had nearly 600,000 hits. We also now have our own MySpace presence, Facebook group (look for Sacred Heart Catholic Parish) and parish blog.

In 2009, the parish celebrated its 50th anniversary with a series of special events.

Updated, July 2010

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