Markus Heinze was born in Mannheim (Germany) in 1960 and joined the Franciscan order in 1980. After studying theology and philosophy in Freiburg i.Br. and Lucerne, he spent almost 20 years in Frankfurt am Main. His main activities consisted of socio-educational work with children and young people as well as counseling people in difficult situations.

Since 1990, Markus has been very much involved in regional and international human rights and peace work. This ultimately led him to Geneva in 2010, where he headed the Franciscan human rights organization Franciscans International until the end of 2023. As Director of Franciscans International, he was already involved in the work of CCIG.