Pastorale officium is an apostolic brief issued by Pope Paul III, May 29, 1537, to Cardinal Juan Pardo de Tavera which declares that anyone who enslaved or despoiled indigenous Americans would be automatically excommunicated.

[1][2][3] The harsh threat of punishment (Latae sententiae) contained in Pastorale officium made the conquistadors complain to the Spanish king and Emperor.

[3] The urging of Charles V to revoke the briefs and bulls of 1537 exemplifies the tension of the concern for evangelisation as manifested in the teachings of 1537 and the pressure to honor the system of royal patronage.

[4] The weakened position of the pope and the memory of the Sack of Rome (1527) a decade earlier by imperial troops made the ecclesiastical authorities hesitant in engaging in any possible confrontation with the Emperor.

[4] The annulment gave rise to the subsequent papal encyclical Sublimis Deus promulgated by Pope Paul III on June 2, 1537.