[xone]

Again, when did this change occur from past practice?

[Mrs. Don-o]

It's not, strictly speaking, a change in doctrine but probably in emphasis. It has never been considered obligatory to execute criminals for capital crimes; for instance, the courts of the various Church Inquisitions had a lower rate of capital punishment than secular or royal courts. Historian Thomas Madden points to documentary evidence that accused criminals sometimes tried to have their trials transferred to ecclesiatical courts, where there were higher standards of evidence and procedural due process, and much lower rates of capital sentencing.