The beginning of Christianity in Dipolog can be traced farther back
in time with arrival of the Jesuits missionaries, shortly, after St. Francis Xavier's visit in MINDANAO.
In 1609, Fr. Pascual
Acuna, S.J., Chaplain of the Spanish Squadron,
started mission work in Mindanao with the natives in the area. Twenty years after, 1629, Fr.
Pedro Gutierrez, S.J. founded the mission center in Dapitan. This made Dapitan as the center of evangelization in Mindanao.