Most Catholics received several more Sacraments along the way, after their Baptisms, and the others were as older children or young adults, when they knew what was going on. The Church has always taught that civil marriages are invalid, because they are not Sacramental. I don't see anything new in this statement.
And, as I'm sure you probably well know, the Church doesn't do annulments for the money. Any fee charged for an annulment is for the administrative costs of the process.
“The church doesn’t do annulments for the money”
This is true. But it provides a good item for more skewering of the Church by those who hold Catholicism in contempt (which gets tiresome and repetitve on these threads and is counter-productive to changing the minds of practicing Catholics).
Why do they do them? By what authority??
As for cost..of course they make money..the people often have too hire "lawyers "( through the church of course) to make their argument or to fight the proceedings
About 3/4 of the baptized receive first communion, 2/3 are confirmed, and just 1/2 get married in the Church.