"An annulment is a declaration by a Church tribunal (a Catholic church court) that a marriage thought to be valid according to Church law actually fell short of at least one of the essential elements required for a binding union."
If you were not married in the catholic church, then it is very clear that one essential element required for a catholic marriage was missing. That's very simple.
"If a marriage is declared null, does it mean that the marriage never existed? No. It means that a marriage that was thought to be valid civilly and canonically was in fact not valid according to Church law. A declaration of nullity does not deny that a relationship existed. It simply states that the relationship was missing something that the Church requires for a valid marriage."
