IBÁÑEZ, PEDRO. - Spanish Dominican theologian, born at Calahorra perhaps at the beginning of the sixteenth century, died in the convent of S. Maria di Trianos, of which he was prior, on 2 February 1565.
A pupil of the convent of S. Stefano di Salamanca, where he professed vows on 5 April 1540, he taught theology at S. Paolo di Valladolid and at S. Tommaso d'Avila. Here he became acquainted with s. Teresa di Gesù, to whom he owes his fame in particular, because he was her confessor and preferred director, and exercised the greatest influence on her spiritual formation, during the period when
she was anxiously contemplating the reform of Carmel and was meeting on every side the strongest and most unforeseen opposition. I. not only approved her bold and contested plan, but also assisted and supported the Saint with his advice, backing her both in Spain and in Rome, until he obtained the pontifical Brief for the foundation of the first convent of Discalced Carmelites at S. Giuseppe di Avila. He also assisted the Saint in drawing up the internal regulations of that house; and in 1632 he ordered her to write a first autobiography, which was later lost, and the history of the foundations. I. left the Tratado del discernimiento de los espíritus on the extraordinary life of his penitent, in which he shows great and profound experience in mystical matters. S. Teresa held him in high esteem as a learned and holy man, and in her autobiography writes that she saw his soul ascend immediately to heaven.