Rome (CNN) Ahead of a Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse, the top leadership of Catholic nuns and priests worldwide admitted to making "errors in judgment" regarding cases of sexual abuse of children and say that more women should be involved in the process of evaluating cases.

In a rare joint statement, the leaders of Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations, who represent hundreds of thousands of Catholic nuns and priests around the world, said they "bow their heads in shame at the realization" the abuse of minors had taken place.

"We learned that those who abuse deliberately hide their actions and are manipulative," they wrote. "Our shame is increased by our own lack of realization of what has been happening."

"The response of those in authority has not been what it should have been. They failed to see warning signs or failed to take them seriously," wrote the group.

It also added that "the strong sense of family in our Orders and Congregations -- something usually so positive -- can make it harder to condemn and expose abuse."

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