Believe me, I'm feeling no sorrow for Cardinal Sarah. He asked for this. For all we know, he may be welcoming it. The interview might have been a tactical move to help solidify his place as the darling of the conservative base and possible candidate to be the next pope.

But Francis needs to resist taking the bait. He could have released a statement that clarified his position without mentioning Sarah by name. That would have had the same effect without shaming the cardinal. More importantly, it wouldn't have allowed this important issue to get sidetracked by an ecclesial slap-fight.

My point is, it's in Francis' long term interests not to play Sarah's game. He needs to learn from the example of John XXIII and Paul VI in how they dealt with Cardinal Ottaviani during Vatican II. They didn't take him on directly. Rather, they allowed him to rant while they continued to work behind the scenes. And ultimately, Ottaviani faded away into irrelevancy.