Born August 9, 1949 in Rüthi (in the Rhine valley, canton of St. Gallen), Mgr. Markus Büchel studied at the Rheineck highschool (St Gallen) and Einsiedeln, where he obtained his maturity in 1970. He studied theology at Fribourg from 1970 to 1975. He was ordained priest in 1976, before being Vicar in two parishes in the city of St. Gallen, then parish priest in Flawil in 1988. Canon and Episcopal Vicar in 1995 he became, among other charges, dean of the cathedral chapter in 1999. He was appointed on 4 July 2006 as Bishop of St. Gallen by Pope Benedict XVI. He received the Episcopal consecration on September 17, 2006.
Since 2019 he participates in the COMECE Assembly with the status of Observer.