Christianity in the new diocese can be traced back to the Augustinian Fathers from Dhaka. Rangamati Dhubri district had a very vibrant Christian community in the 16th century. In the last century the Salvatorian priests and later the Salesians while traveling through the Brahmaputra had stayed at Dhubri.
However, the first to take up residence at Dhubri were the Salesian Fathers Archimede Piannazzi and L. Rocca, who were appointed to work among Garos. In 1932 they took up residence at Dhubri and used it as a base for their apostolate in the Garo Hills as Catholics were denied permission to work in that area. In 1936 Barpeta Road Mission was established. The whole area of the present diocese and more was covered by this parish. The present progress can be attributed to Bishops Orestes Marengo, Joseph Mittathany, Robert Kerketta and to Fr Remo Morra, sdb. Under the leadership of Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, the area had a further growth which led to the creation of the Bongaigaon diocese. Fr Joseph Zubizzaretta, sdb’s name will be always remembered among the most outstanding missionaries of the area.
The Diocese of Bongaigaon is carved out of the Archdiocese of Guwahati consisting of Bongaigaon, Baksa,Barpeta, Chirang, Dhubri Kokrajhar and Nalbari Districts of lower Assam that covers the surface area of 13,630 Sq Km. with an over all population of 5.2 million of which 56,855(1.2%) are catholics. There are 27 parishes, 28 Diocesan Priests, 36 Religious Priests, 07 Brothers and 164 Women religious. Catholic population is mainly tribals with the Bodos forming the single largest group. Santhals, Adivasis, Garos and Rabhas are the other major groups. General population comprises of Koch and Koch Rajbanshies, the Assamese and Bengalis. Dhubri and Barpeta districts have Muslim majority.
The Mission of Barpeta Road is one of the earliest Catholic establishments in the Assam valley. The region is an ethnic mosaic consisting of the Bodos, the Santals, the Adivasis, the Garos, the Rabhas and others. It is one of the important traditional cultural centres of the Assamese people. The Catholic Mission was officially established at Barpeta Road in 1936. The Mission had its primary aim to boost the evangelization work among the Boros.
Prior to the work of Catholic missionaries among the Boros, the Baptists and the Lutherans had established contacts with them. As early as 1909 the American Baptists and few years later the Lutherans had baptized some Boros in Goalpara area and set up few Christian communities among them. The Salvatorian missionaries who pioneered the Catholic mission work in Assam (1890-1915) made efforts to reach out to the Tea Garden workers of Assam. But it was with the arrival of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Assam in 1922 greater attention was given to evangelization work among the indigenous people. Guwahati was established as the Mission Centre in 1922, which looked after the entire region of present-day State of Assam. The first contact of Catholic missionaries with the Bodos began in 1928. In that year Fr Leo Piasecki baptized a few Bodos in Udalguri area. In 1931, Assam was divided into two Mission districts, namely Guwahati and Dibrugarh. In 1932, Fr Vincent Scuderi, who was in charge of the Mission district of Guwahati, baptized some Boros in Bengtol region. In the years 1933-34, Fr Aloysius Ravalico and Fr Anthony Alessi baptized some in Mongoldoi area. Fr Orestes Marengo, Fr Theodosio Bonomi and Fr Guido Colussi toured several villages of Bodo settlements and baptized number of them.
In 1936, Barpeta was detached from the Mission district of Guwahati. Fr Michael de Valle and Fr Thomas Lopez were given charge of developing the Mission of Barpeta. That was the official beginning of the Catholic Mission of Barpeta. In 1939, Fr Ernest Zanon assumed charge of the Barpeta Mission. Fr Zanon learnt the Bodo language; printed the prayer book and catechism book in the Bodo language. The catechism was prepared by Fr Marengo earlier. For a short period (1946-47), Fr Zanon left Barpeta for Sonada. In 1947, he returned to Barpeta and worked hard for the growth of the Church in the region. Fr Felix Bollini, Fr Leander Aiuso, Fr Patrick Burns and others assisted in the growth of the Barpeta Mission.
In 1953, Fr Remus Morra took over from Fr Zanon as Rector of Barpeta Mission. It was with the arrival of Fr Morra, that the Mission established the well-known dairy farm. The purpose was to serve as a means of support for the boarding and the Mission, as well as to teach people the usefulness of animal husbandry as a means of livelihood. Fr Morra served Barpeta Mission for several decades. He died at Barpeta on 29 April 1985 at the age of 67.
In the course of time, the vastness and the Catholic population of Barpeta Mission got reduced with the creation of several new Parishes. The Parishes born out of the original territory of Barpeta Mission are the following: Bengtol (1966), Doomni (1972), Soraibil (1973), Kumarikatta (1977), Baganpara (1981), Gosaigaon (1984), Barama (1985), Dotma (1986), Bashbari (1989), Bongaigaon Bhowlaguri (1994), Balamguri (1995), Garubhasha (1996), Kokrajhar (1999), Bongaigaon Cathedral Parish (2000), Bijni (2000), Tamulpur (2002), Kwilamwila (2001), North Salmara (2001), Kathalguri (2002), Gauripur (2003), Chapar (2003), Nagrijuli (2004), Barengbari (2005), Magurmari (2005), Kachugaon (2005), Dadgari (2010) and Panbari (2013).
As per the Parish statistics of 2019, there are 31 families in the Parish with a Catholic population of 119 distributed in 6 villages.
Realizing the educational need of the children, Fr Zanon opened St Joseph’s School, Barpeta in 1943. The medium of instruction was Assamese. Later on a Middle English section was started. At present both schools function as High Schools. A new building was constructed to accommodate the students of the English Medium School and it was inaugurated in 2018. The process of affiliating it to CBSE is in progress.
When Fr Kuriala Chittattukalam was the Parish Priest, a Centre was opened in order to train the young girls of the Parish in various trades, which will fetch them employment. Later, this initiative was abandoned. However, in recent years, a Skill Training Centre has been constructed in the campus in order to empower and to provide employment to young people of the region. In 2013, the Province started an Apostolic School to educate and to form the young candidates aspiring to become Salesians. However, this project is being phased off. These days the renovation of the hostel building is in progress.
The Salesian presence at Barpeta, began in 1936, was officially recognized as a canonical community in 1975 under the patronage of St Francis de Sales. Other than the confreres listed above, the following Salesians served the Barpeta Mission in various capacities: Br Isidorus Fioredda, Br Maurice Dhan, Fr Joseph Zubizarreta, Fr Chandy Edamala, Br Tarcisius Kujur, Fr Cornelius Panna, Fr Louis Kerketta, Fr Benedict Kiro, Fr George Kuzhipallil, Fr John Bosco Minj, Fr Joseph Parippil, Fr Kuriala Chittattukalam, Fr John Chellanthara, Fr Thomas Punnolikunnel, Fr Chacko Kuthur Vellattukara, Fr Jose Valiaveetil, Fr Michael Bhengra, Fr Vincent Xalxo, Fr Muct Tirkey, Br Alexius Condpan, Fr Santosh Minj, Fr Barnabas Mardi, Fr Andreas Panna, Fr Nicodim Aind, Br Aloysius Indwar, Fr Marcus Lakra, Fr Justin Narzary and Fr Threnius Sangma, Fr Anugrah Tete and Fr. Victor Tigga
At present the Salesian community of Barpeta consists of Fr. Jonas Toppo (Rector and Parish Priest), Fr Zacharias Minj (Principal, Provincialized School) and Fr George Mudakkampuram (Principal, CBSE School).
The MSMHC group of sisters reached the Mission in 1954. St Mary’s Convent, belonging to them was officially inaugurated on 16 October 1954. The Sisters run two schools for girls, one in Assamese medium and the other in English medium, and a hostel for girls.