Generally there is a small number of people that have some level of control over the organization of which the conspiracy is about. In the case of the Catholic

Generally there is a small number of people that have some level of control over the organization of which the conspiracy is about. In the case of the Catholic abuse scandal, there were a small number of people who were largely in charge of the catholic church. There was also other factors, including some luck, involved in it all. Eventually that luck ran out and we did learn about it, but only after extensive damage was done. Very few conspiracy theories require some group to be in total control of everything.