OLIDEN, GASPAR (DE). - Theatine theologian and ascetical writer, b. at Elgoibar (Guipúzcoa, Spain), d. c. 1740. He made his religious profession at Madrid on 6 Jan. 1683. After teaching theology at the University of Salamanca, he lived for many years in Italy, devoted to the sacred ministry. He distinguished himself in propagating devotion to the souls of the faithful departed through the practice of the “heroic vow or act (v.) of charity.”
Pius IX, in the brief of 30 Sept. 1852, attributes its institution to O., recalling the approval of the vow given by Benedict XIII (23 Aug. 1728) and its confirmation, together with the related indulgences, by Pius VI (11 Dec. 1788). In 1725 he was appointed first provost of the Theatine house at Palma de Mallorca, where he moved in 1726, after having delivered a series of conferences on Purgatory in the presence of Benedict XIII, who liked to call him the “procurator of Purgatory.” In his Order he enjoys the title of venerable. He wrote Dialogos del Purgatorio (Alcalá 1732).