Originally erected on 9 July 1940 as the Apostolic prefecture of Akyab, the pre-diocese has the distinction of being the only ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Burma created from the Diocese of Chittagong (in Bengal, now Metropolitan; by La Salette Fathers (M.S.)
On 21 February 1961, the prefecture was elevated to a full bishopric as Diocese of Prome.
Finally on 8 October 1991, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Pyay and became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Yangon The resignation for health reasons of Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Taik Maung, appointed in 1991, who was serving as Apostolic Administrator, was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, July 16, 2010.
On Friday, December 3, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Devellerez Thaung Shwe as Bishop and appointed Burmese priest Alexander Pyone Cho, a native of the Pyay Diocese (on loan "fidei donum" to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina, Kansas, USA), as Bishop of Pyay.
(all Roman Rite, till 2010 foreign members of a Latin missionary congregation)