Hi, Pat —

Thank you for your question. The Catholic Church regrettably understands and requires "civil/legal divorce" precedent to an annulment. Divorce only "breaks" the legal barriers contracted between husband and wife; it in no way implies that the marriage does still not exist in God's eyes.

As for the conditions under which the Church grants annulments, that is a question which cannot be answered in a brief fashion. For this answer, and a better understanding, I invite you to read the following web page for an explanation of Catholic annulments. It was written by a Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Boston (Massachusetts) and is in "layman's" language, thus making it an easy and compelling "read".

There is also a page titled: Declaration of Nullity FAQs.

I pray and hope that this reading will assist you. If you should have any difficulties pulling up this site then just go to www.bostoncatholic.org and do a "search" under "annulment" and refer to the appropriate pages in the search results.

God Bless.

John