I can't imagine why you are puzzled when all the further comments in your post did a good job of supporting everything I said in my post.
Catholics divorce in about the same proportional numbers as non-Catholics.
True. So what does this tell us about "Catholic marriage" in the post-conciliar era? For starters, it tells us that it is no different from protestant marriage.
No other religion has the richness of the Catholic Church's doctrines on Marriage.
It depends on how you define it. If you look at 2000 years of Catholic marriage doctrine, then I would agree with you. But if you take the view of marriage that is currently promoted by the Church, which starts in 1962 and is so entirely self-referential to the teachings of the current pontificate that it amounts to solipcism, then "poverty" would be a much more accurate adjective to describe that body of doctrine rather than "richness."
Church Authority is needed prior to the final divorce decree -- so many intact families could be salvaged from this doom if the rules were changed, whereby Church personnel would activate their role prior to the final divorce decree -- to help untangle the conflict of two earthly beings -- imperfect and in need of guidance.
Really? What if those "church authorities" told the couple it was okay to use birth control? What if those "church authorities" undermined the hierarchical nature of the relationship between husbands and wives? What if those "church authorities" told the couple that the teachings of the Bible were historically conditioned and no longer apply to our day and age? What if those "church authorities" told the couple that annulment is available for any couples who decide they no longer wish to stay together?
Do you still think they help salvage any intact families, or would they be more likely to torpedo the vestiges of any intact marriages they came in contact with? And don't fool yourself -- all the above statements constitute the current teaching on marriage. It is virtually impossible to find pastoral guidance that does not include all those positions.
As for your claims about Our Holy Father's views, I think you are badly distorting things and I would like to see the citations that would back your claims.
That would be a bit difficult since you don't identify any of the supposed "distortions."
If the 'Church authorities' tell you something that is NOT Church teaching... easily found out by reading the actual documents, it is YOUR responsibility to learn the Truth, just as it was mine so very long ago. And it is even EASIER to do today than it was when I did the research.
YOU are ultimately held accountable to form your conscience by the actual Church teachings (ie, Catechism, Bible, Encyclicals, etc) to conform with the Church, NOT theologians, etc who differ from authentic Church teachings. Sorry, but when we meet HIM face to face, He will remind us of His Words below. And MY name is NOWHERE to be found in His Words... we are all called to be obedient. Our job is to get our spouse to Heaven, not 'be happy' here.. It is wonderful if the two go together, but we are called to serve Him, to follow Him. And HE says He hates divorce ...