created on november 12, 1971, the diocese is a suffragan of the archdiocese of zamboanga. with the ceding of the municipality of margosatubig of the ipil prelature to the diocese of pagadian in january 1995, the diocese now has 24 parishes under its jurisdiction. the catholic christian population covered by the diocese is now 711,244 that comprises 72% of the total population of the area of about 2,860 square kilometers.