The Pope speaks

Yesterday, I heard a story that the Pope had spoken, in two languages. In two languages was emphasized. Didn't he know how to speak multiple languages before his tracheotomy? If so, then is it really news that he spoke more than one language? I don't think so. The news is that he spoke at all, and as far as I'm concerned, that's not really news either. Now, if he could only speak one language before the operation, but now is bilingual, then this should be a much bigger story, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.