Let us never forget that authentic power is service. … Only those who serve with love are able to protect!

Caring, protecting, demands goodness. It calls for a certain tenderness. … Great tenderness … is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!

Today … amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others, to protect creation, to protect every man and every woman. To look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! … Let us protect with love all that God has given us!

— Pope Francis
From the homily of the Holy Father
at his installation on March 19, 2013