In 1619, the evangelization of the area began through Fr. Gregorio Bolívar, with scant results. More successful was Fr. Filippo di Luyando, who in 1631 began the work of converting various indigenous populations and also the series of 47 missionaries killed up to 1724. In 1725, the Franciscan province of the Twelve Apostles of Peru handed the mission over to Fr. Francesco di S. Giuseppe, who founded the missionary college of Ocopa in 1724. In 1742, the apostate Indian Juan Santos Atahualpa incited the Indians against the missionaries, causing the ruin of the mission. In 1752, work of restoration began, which brought the mission to a very flourishing state. When Peru declared independence in 1821, the missionaries, being Spanish, had to abandon the mission. Only Fr. Emmanuel Le Piaz, a Peruvian, remained; he later became bishop of Cuenca in Peru. In 1824, the Ocopa College was closed. It was not until 1836 that it could be reopened, and with the help of other Spanish and Italian missionaries, it was possible to resume the missions.
On 5 Feb. 1900, Propaganda divided the entire region of the Peruvian "Montaña" into three apostolic prefectures: Amazonas y Huallaga for the Augustinians, Urubamba and Madre de Dios for the Dominicans, and San Francisco de Ucayali for the Franciscans. On 14 July 1925, it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate. It has an area of approximately 235,000 sq. km. and a population of approximately 155,000 inhabitants, almost all Catholic; 35 missionaries, 12 brothers, and 84 sisters work there. There are 16 quasi-parishes, 20 missionary stations. Schools, charitable works, and pious and Catholic Action associations are well developed.