OLIDEN, GASPAR (DE). - Theatine theologian and ascetical writer, born in Elgoibar (Guipúzcoa, Spain), died circa 1740. He made his religious profession in Madrid on 6 January 1683. After teaching theology at the University of Salamanca, he spent many years in Italy devoted to sacred ministry. He distinguished himself in promoting 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 September 1852, attributes the institution of this practice to O., recalling the approval given to the vow by Benedict XIII (23 August 1728) and its confirmation along with the related indulgences by Pius VI (11 December 1788). In 1725 he was appointed first prepositus of the Theatine house in Palma de Mallorca, where he moved in 1726 after delivering a series of conferences on Purgatory in the presence of Benedict XIII, who used to call him the "procurator of Purgatory." He enjoys the title of Venerable in his Order. He wrote *Diálogos del Purgatorio* (Alcalá, 1732).