[Faces of Domuni] Mauricio Pineda

3 september 2026

[EPISODE 15] – Mauricio PINEDA

A Quest for God: From Philosophy to Theology

Originally from Mexico, Mauricio Pineda lives in Guadalajara, in the western part of the country. Trained in philosophy, he has also studied family therapy, psychotherapy, and organisational development. He has recently completed his Bachelor’s degree in Theology with Domuni.

A Journey between Philosophy, Accompaniment, and Spirituality

In Guadalajara, Mauricio Pineda has pursued a particularly diverse professional path. A graduate in philosophy, he has also trained in several fields related to supporting individuals: family therapy, psychotherapy, and organisational development.

Throughout his professional life, he has worked both in the corporate world and in education. Today, he continues to work primarily in areas related to business and training.

Yet his journey extends beyond the professional sphere. Alongside these activities, Mauricio has always given significant importance to spiritual and religious questions. A Catholic, he even discerned, at one point in his life, the possibility of entering religious life. Ultimately, he chose to continue his journey as a layperson.

This diversity of experiences might appear to be a succession of very different fields. For Mauricio, however, they are connected by a common thread.

“What unites my work is the effort to foster the development of the person, including transcendental development as part of the development of the human being.”

Psychological support, teaching, work within non-governmental organisations, involvement in apostolic activities, and spiritual seeking thus all form part of the same desire: to contribute to the growth of the person in all their dimensions.

It is within this continuity that his decision to resume theological studies must be understood.

A Long-standing Desire: Deepening His Knowledge of God

The decision to begin studying at Domuni was not the result of a random choice. It emerged from a question that had accompanied Mauricio for a long time: how can one deepen one’s faith and better understand God?

After various experiences, training programmes, and involvement in groups and communities, a question gradually arose: why not give this search an academic form?

A few years ago, he therefore decided to begin a course of study at Domuni. His choice was initially motivated by a deeply personal desire: to know God better and deepen his spiritual experience.

Yet this desire had to find a place within an already busy life. Professional commitments and the difficulty of adhering to fixed university schedules therefore also played a decisive role.

Domuni’s fully online format enabled him to reconcile his studies with his professional activities and personal commitments.

“The flexibility of being able to do it this way” was one of the important reasons behind his choice.

Alongside this flexibility was another dimension that was essential for Mauricio: the reputation of the Dominican tradition of education.

He wanted to benefit from a demanding education capable of bringing together the Catholic tradition and critical reflection. The intellectual approach of Dominican universities particularly appealed to him, especially the desire not to reduce the study of faith to the simple transmission of knowledge, but to encourage analysis, reflection, and questioning.

He therefore chose to pursue a course of study in theology, which he completed after several years of study.

Studying Theology: Much More Than Acquiring Knowledge

For Mauricio, his experience at Domuni cannot be reduced to the acquisition of theological knowledge. Of course, the academic dimension played an important role: he appreciates study, theoretical reflection, and the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the subjects that interest him.

Yet, in retrospect, he identifies a deeper contribution of his education: the possibility of connecting the knowledge he acquired with his own history and personal experience of faith.

“An interesting contribution that I probably did not understand as clearly before, but which now seems fundamental to me, was connecting it to my life, to my life experience, and bringing it into my experience with God.”

For him, this connection between theology and existence constitutes one of the most significant aspects of his journey.

Studying theology enabled him to encounter or rediscover the Catholic Christian faith from different perspectives, while also experiencing what he describes as a genuine encounter, or a “re-encounter,” with God.

University education thus becomes a space in which intellect and spirituality are not opposed to one another. Study nourishes reflection, while reflection makes it possible to return to personal experience.

Rereading God through Human History

Among the themes that particularly marked Mauricio is the way theology enables one to reflect on God’s presence in history.

Understanding God does not simply mean studying a concept or doctrine. It also means seeking to understand how God has manifested himself in human history, how he has entered into cultures, societies, and lives, and how this presence can still be understood today.

This historical perspective enabled him to view the mystery of God differently: not as an abstract reality removed from human existence, but as a presence that becomes intelligible at the very heart of history.

This approach directly connects with his own search: how can God be understood through the concrete lives of men and women, their cultures, societies, and histories?

For Mauricio, theology thus becomes a way of rereading human experience in the light of faith.

Rediscovering Scripture

Among the other dimensions that deeply marked his journey, Mauricio also highlights the study of Sacred Scripture.

Here again, his experience goes beyond the mere accumulation of knowledge. Studying the Bible enabled him to rediscover the texts, their context, and the different ways in which they can be interpreted.

Hermeneutics played a particularly important role in this rediscovery: understanding biblical texts requires taking into account their context, history, language, and the different traditions through which they have been transmitted.

This approach enabled him to return to Scripture with a renewed perspective.

The Bible is therefore not merely a collection of texts to be studied. It also becomes a place of questioning and dialogue with human and spiritual experience.

Mauricio also emphasises the importance of studying the Trinity and Church history. These subjects enabled him to deepen his understanding of the Christian tradition while developing a more critical perspective.

For him, studying Church history also means being able to examine its strengths and weaknesses with greater depth.

This critical dimension does not constitute a rejection of faith. On the contrary, it contributes to its maturation: gaining greater understanding, asking questions, placing events within their context, and accepting the complexity of history make it possible to live one’s faith with greater awareness.

A Course of Study That Requires Time… and Discipline

Mauricio’s journey also highlights an important reality of distance learning: flexibility does not mean a lack of commitment.

Being able to organise one’s studies according to one’s own pace is a genuine freedom, but this freedom requires the ability to organise oneself, maintain regularity, and persevere.

For Mauricio, his journey developed progressively. He needed to take time not only to study, but also to pause, reflect, and pray.

This spiritual dimension naturally influenced his pace of learning. Certain concepts or mysteries could not simply be assimilated and immediately replaced by a new subject. They required time.

“The process of completing the studies was somewhat slow” because he also needed to “linger, pray, and dialogue with God.”

This approach to study illustrates a particular understanding of theological education: academic study can become a path of personal transformation when it is connected with experience, prayer, and discernment.

An Academic Education, but Also a Fraternal Experience

Mauricio also emphasises the quality of the support he received throughout his studies.

For him, studying at Domuni does not simply mean having access to high-quality academic content. The professors are also available to answer questions and support students when they encounter difficulties.

This relationship with the professors contributes to creating a study environment that is both demanding and supportive.

Above all, he remembers an attitude that he describes as fraternal: the desire to encourage personal reflection and, more broadly, to create the conditions for a genuine encounter with God.

This dimension seems particularly important to him in a distance-learning programme. Even when studying from Guadalajara, Mauricio does not view his course of study as a mere succession of courses followed alone in front of a screen.

Education remains a human, intellectual, and spiritual experience.

Putting Knowledge at the Service of Others

Today, the experience acquired at Domuni naturally finds its place in the different areas of Mauricio’s life.

His professional path leads him to support individuals, teach, and work in various organisational contexts. His spiritual and religious commitment also provides spaces in which the knowledge he has acquired can be shared.

Theology thus becomes a tool not only for better understanding, but also for better transmitting knowledge.

Mauricio does not regard study as an end in itself. He wishes to use what he has learned in the different contexts in which he works.

Yet he also emphasises another dimension: before transmitting knowledge, one must allow that knowledge to transform oneself.

Studying, sharing, and then returning to one’s own experience: this movement seems to summarise a significant part of his journey.

An Invitation to Study with Seriousness and Openness

To those who are hesitating about beginning studies at Domuni, Mauricio offers a clear recommendation: he strongly encourages them to take this step.

First, he highlights the flexibility of the educational model, which is particularly well suited to people who work or who cannot make themselves available according to traditional university schedules.

But above all, he emphasises the nature of the education provided.

For him, Domuni enables students to acquire a solid knowledge of the Catholic faith and its foundations while adopting a broad and critical perspective. Students are encouraged not simply to receive answers, but to reflect, question, and connect the knowledge they acquire with their own lives.

This approach nevertheless requires discipline.

The freedom to organise one’s time implies knowing how to establish a framework, work regularly, and maintain one’s commitment over time. In return, it enables people from very different backgrounds to resume their studies and pursue an academic path compatible with their professional, family, or community commitments.

For Mauricio, this opportunity was decisive.

A Quest That Continues

His journey ultimately illustrates an essential characteristic of theological studies: they do not necessarily end with the awarding of a degree.

For Mauricio, study has renewed his perspective on God, Scripture, Church history, and his own experience. It has given him knowledge, but above all, a different way of connecting that knowledge with his existence.

From philosophy to psychological support, from the corporate world to teaching, from community involvement to spiritual seeking, his journey may appear multifaceted. Yet one question runs through it all: how can one contribute to the integral development of the person?

At Domuni, this question found a new space for deeper exploration.

His testimony reminds us that university studies can be much more than an academic journey. They can become a time to understand, question, reread one’s experience, and, at times, renew a quest that one has carried for a long time.

For Mauricio Pineda, studying theology has therefore been both a path of knowledge and an inward journey: a way of deepening his faith, better understanding the history and texts on which it is founded, and also returning, again and again, to the essential question that lay at the starting point of his journey: how can one come to know God better?