APOCRISARIO. — From the Greek ἀποκρίνω “I answer,” Latin *responsalis*, but also *apocrisarius* and *apocrisiarius*, in the late empire it was an official charged with handling affairs entrusted to him. The Church also had its own, namely envoys sent by patriarchs to the imperial court or to other bishops to carry out temporary duties. The first *apocrisarius* of the Church of Rome of whom we have record was Bishop Julian of Cos, appointed by Pope St. Leo the Great as his representative at the imperial court. The office became permanent in the time of Justinian and lasted until 742.
The papal *apocrisarius*, chosen from the Roman clergy and invested with the diaconate, resided in Constantinople in the palace of Placidia adjacent to the imperial palace, and his duties were so extensive and multifarious—covering not only political affairs of Italy but also religious matters of the East—that, according to Pope Pelagius II, an *apocrisarius* could not absent himself from the imperial palace even for an hour. Unfortunately, none of the reports sent by them to the Roman Pontiff have survived. Several popes, including Vigilius, Pelagius II, and Gregory the Great, served as *apocrisarii* before ascending the papal throne.
During the early Middle Ages, at the Carolingian court the term *apocrisarius* was applied to the keeper of the imperial seal and also to the chief chaplain of the palace, though the latter never exercised the functions of a nuncio. The office of papal *apocrisarius* was the germ from which developed the legate *a latere* for temporary missions and the nuncio for the Pope’s permanent missions.