The Church of Scotland has apologised for its part in the persecution and execution of thousands of people, mainly women, who were accused of being witches hundreds of years ago.
A motion agreed at the Church of Scotland's General Assembly this week called on the body to "acknowledge and regret the terrible harm caused" to those accused of sorcery - and to "apologise for the role of the Church of Scotland... in such historical persecution".
Rev Professor Susan Hardman Moore, principal of the Church's New College, said the kirk needed to apologise for "feeding the witchcraft fury" in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
She told the General Assembly's Faith Impact Forum: "Apologising for historic wrongs is not about shouldering the blame now personally for what happened in the past, nor is it about misapplying today's standards to past actors.
"Rather, apologising for historic wrongs is about standing in solidarity with the innocents who suffered; acknowledging and regretting the harm that came to them as a result of actions by the Church in the past; setting the record straight by affirming the dignity of the people that our forerunners wrote off; and acknowledging the suffering caused by past norms and policies that we no longer accept.
"Importantly, apologising for historic wrongs can be a step towards reconciling towards reconciling with those who are alienated from the Church now by what the Church has done in the past."
The motion was accepted unanimously by Church elders after its Theological Forum produced a report earlier this year on "apologising for historical wrongs".
Claire Mitchell QC, a Dundee-based lawyer, founded the Witches of Scotland pressure group to get justice for those wronged centuries ago.
She said in a tweet : "I am delighted that the Church of Scotland has taken the historic step to 'acknowledge and regret' the terrible things done to those accused of witchcraft in Scotland."
Early modern Scots were hugely suspicious of witchcraft, and a Scottish Witchcraft Act was introduced in 1563 that made consulting with witches or practising dark arts punishable by death.
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King James VI was said to have been concerned by witches and was involved in the North Berwick Witch Trials, Scotland's first major prosecution of those allegedly in cahoots with the Devil.
Thousands were tortured, tried and executed between 1563 and 1736.
While the Church of Scotland was not directly involved in witch trials, the institution has acknowledged elders within its Kirk Sessions - local, church-run courts - captured and interrogated accused witches before passing them to the criminal courts.
The Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, convener of the Church's faith impact forum, previously said the kirk's "direct involvement" in witch-hunting was something it looked back on with "deep sadness and sincere horror and sorrow”.
The move continues a trend of Scottish institutions acknowledging and repenting for their role in the country's problematic witch-hunting past.
Earlier this year, the First Minister issued a similar apology on behalf of the Scottish Government, made out to those who were persecuted, tortured and even killed for alleged links to the occult.
Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged in a statement to MSPs that people, mostly women, had been hunted down on a "colossal scale".
A formal pardon could follow, but will require legislation to be agreed in the Scottish Parliament.
The FM told Holyrood in March: “Those who met this fate were not witches, they were people, and they were overwhelmingly women.
"At a time when women were not even allowed to speak as witnesses in a courtroom they were accused and killed because they were poor, different, vulnerable, or in many cases just because they were women.”
Zoe Venditozzi, a Witches of Scotland campaigner, said on Wednesday: "We’re so glad to see the huge push that our campaign has given to Scottish and international society to bring the past into the light so we can learn from it.
"It’s wonderful to see the church’s apology following on from the apology we secured from the First Minister in March."
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