Auxiliary Bishop Rey Bersabal was born in Magsaysay, a town in the southern Philippine province of Misamis Oriental on Oct. 15, 1964. He is the youngest of three children born to Juanita Guzman Bendijo and Ananias Amparo Bersabal. His vocation began with the lived faith of his parents and family. He attended both Catholic and public schools before entering the diocesan seminary of San Jose de Mindanao. He obtained his degree in philosophy from Ateneo de Cagayan Xavier University.
On April 29, 1991, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro. Among the posts he served there include as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Snows Parish (1991); parish administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish (1992); and parish priest at St. Francis Xavier Parish (1995).
He also served as assessor of marriage cases for the metropolitan tribunal of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro City (1996); as chancellor (1998); and as archdiocesan director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the Philippines (1998).
Bishop Bersabal came to the Diocese of Sacramento in 1999 at the invitation of Bishop Emeritus William K. Weigand. He served in various posts: parochial vicar of St. James Parish in Davis and chaplain of the Davis Newman Center from 1999 to 2001; parochial vicar of St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento from 2002 to 2003; pastor of St. Paul Parish in Sacramento from 2003 to 2008; pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Folsom from 2008 to 2016; and pastor of St. James Parish in Davis from 2016 to 2022. He was incardinated into the Diocese of Sacramento on April 7, 2004.
He was also treasurer of the diocesan presbyteral council from 2007 to 2010 and is currently a member of the diocesan priests’ personnel board, the diocesan liturgical commission, and the diocese’s independent review board. He has been dean of the southern suburbs/city deanery (2004-2008), dean of the Gold Country deanery (2011-2014), and dean of the Yolo deanery (2020-2022).
Since 2012, Bishop Bersabal has been the liaison in the diocese for the Filipino presbyterate. He speaks English, Tagalog, Visayan and Spanish.