The Pope is entitled to say what he like�s aint he? Providing it is in the doctrine of the Catholic Church of course. We don�t have to agree to it or accept it. He, rightly or wrongly, has the belief that for Catholic's, divine law takes precedence over civil law and therefore this is an issue that really only matters to Catholic�s who play cow-toe to the Vatican law. But even then, those that do would probably follow the lengthy process of annulment, thus this Q is pointless!
As far as the church is concerned, the real problem has not been civil divorce but re-marriage. That is the point at which you can no longer receive communion. Some priests might exercise this rule, but not all will as when someone re-marries, they might tend to take their whole family out of the church with them and this has and will lead to a diminution of Catholic congregations.
Civil divorce is the only way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, thus they allow it with the annulment following. The catechism of the Catholic Church is that marriage is a sacrament. It�s a case of practicing what you preach, although I know several Roman Catholic priests who would not adhere fully to this rule and forsake their congregation, but recognise the demands and desires of a modern society.