APARITO-RE. — This is a kind of judicial official attached to ecclesiastical tribunals, entrusted with the functions relating to the coercive execution of sentences and other decisions of the judge. Generally a layman is appointed to this office, and often this office is combined in the same person with that of cursore (q.v.; cann. 1591–92). In diocesan tribunals the aparitore is appointed by the bishop. In any case the aparitore is directly subordinate to the judge. The term is relatively recent, though derived from Roman law.
Enciclopedia Cattolica