 As Vicar General, Poletti administered the diocese in the name of the Pope, who is the Bishop of the diocese of Rome.One of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, Poletti is believed to have received up to thirty votes during a ballot of the latter conclave.Earlier, in July 1976, the newsletter "Bulletin de l'Occident Chrétien" had claimed that Poletti himself, among other high-ranking Church officials, was a Freemason, having been initiated on 17 February 1969, with the Masonic code name of "Upo".