The first woman to speak at a Vatican conference on sexual abuse of minors has called for bishops to kneel before their victims and their victims' families.

Key points: The summit's second day focused on the different ways the Catholic Church treated sexual abuse worldwide

The summit's second day focused on the different ways the Catholic Church treated sexual abuse worldwide Ms Ghisoni called for sexual abuse to be tackled by the church no matter where it occurred

Ms Ghisoni called for sexual abuse to be tackled by the church no matter where it occurred Cardinals called for accountability to punish those who fail their flocks

Linda Ghisoni, an undersecretary in one of the Vatican offices, made her comments in front of Pope Francis and a gathering of nearly 200 bishops and other Catholic leaders at a four-day meeting to discuss the church's numerous sexual abuse scandals.

She said that taking responsibility and kneeling would be the "appropriate posture" to deal with the issue of sexual abuse of minors in the church.

"Kneeling before the victims and their families, in front of the abusers, their collaborators, those that refuse, those who are unjustly accused, to the negligent, to those who have covered up, to those who tried to speak up and act but were silenced, to the indifferent.

"Kneel before the merciful Father, who sees the lacerated body of Christ, his church. He sends us to take responsibility, as his people, of the wounds and to cure them with the balm of his love."

Pope Francis arrives for the opening of the second day of the conference. ( AP: Giuseppe Lami )

On the second day of the meeting the debate shifted to how church leaders must acknowledge that decades of cover-ups and secrecy had only worsened the sex abuse crisis.

The religious leaders listened as Ms Ghisoni told them there should not be different ways of handling the problem in different parts of the world, and minors should be protected no matter where they were.

"There should not be a business class in some particular churches and an economy class in others," she said.

The pope summoned 190 bishops and religious superiors to the conference. ( AP: Giuseppe Lami )

Cardinals attending the summit have called for a new culture of accountability, to punish bishops and religious superiors when they fail to protect their flocks from predator priests.

Francis, the first Latin American pope, called the summit after he himself botched a well-known sex abuse cover-up case in Chile last year.

Mumbai Cardinal Oswald Gracias opened the session by saying bishops must work together to address the problem because it was erroneous to say "it's just a problem for the USA or Europe or Australia."

"This, brothers and sisters, is just not true. I dare say there are cases all over the world, also in Asia, also in Africa," he said.

At the opening of the summit, Pope Francis drew the ire of abuse victims when he accused critics of the church of being "friends of the devil".

Sorry, this video has expired Pope Francis opened the landmark Vatican summit into the protection of minors. (Photo: AP)

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