Before the Diocese was fully established, the first footprints of Catholicism in Myitkyina were set in 1856, when French Bishop Paul Bigandet M.E.P.

According to internal historical records, three decades of extreme sicknesses caused by malaria brought the work to a stand-still.

[1] The mission was slow to spread throughout Kachin populations in the early 20th century until the arrival of the first Columban Missionaries from Ireland in 1936.

[2] With "Divine Providence" re-instated in the architects of Catholicism in Kachin State, evangelization was resumed with "renewed vigour and fresh hopes" and by 1965 and 1966, the diocese was handed over to the local clergy.

Throughout the 1960s and to this day, the Diocese of Myitkyina has been bringing gospel and aid to isolated and hazardous locations in Northern Myanmar.