Ann Rogers does an excellent job writing about the ordinations – finding a voice for the story who states the obvious:

Phyllis Zagano, a senior research associate at Hofstra University on Long Island is a Catholic theologian who advocates the ordination of women to the diaconate, because that discussion is still permitted in the church.

The riverboat movement "raises the issue and makes more people discuss it," she said.

But she is concerned that some of the women wouldn’t qualify if they were male because of their theology or lifestyle.

"From what I have read of their biographies, some of the women are not much interested in much of what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. So there is a conundrum there. How can you be ordained to serve a community of believers if you don’t agree with them?" she said.