APPARITORE. – He is a kind of bailiff assigned to ecclesiastical tribunals, to whom the functions relating to the compulsory enforcement of judgments and other decisions of the judge are entrusted.
Generally, a layman is appointed to this office, and often this office is combined in the same person with that of cursor (v. cann. 1591–92). In diocesan tribunals he is appointed by the bishop. In every case, the a. is directly subordinate to the judge. The designation is relatively recent, although derived from Roman law.