( CNN ) -- It was an exciting day for Laura Dominguez and her 11-year-old daughter Paulina . They were summoned to their parish , the Saint Cosme and Damian Church in Mexico City to pick up the equivalent of a jackpot for Mexican Catholics : tickets to attend a mass presided by the pope in Gunajuato , about four hours from Mexico City . Dominguez , a 40-year-old Mexican Red Cross paramedic was elated . `` It 's very exciting . It 's incredible . I never imagined I was going to get the opportunity to attend , '' Dominguez said . Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Mexico for the first time Friday . This is also his first visit to Spanish-speaking Latin America in his seven-year pontificate . Mexico boasts the second-largest population of Catholics in the world after Brazil , a country the pope visited in 2007 ( Brazil 's predominant language is Portuguese ) . He also visited the United States in 2008 . But Benedict 's trip will likely be overshadowed by his deceased predecessor , Pope John Paul II . Barely a week before Benedict 's arrival , an exhibit to honor John Paul opened in Mexico City . The exhibit , entitled `` John Paul II in Private , '' is at Mexico City 's Palacio de los Deportes ( Sports Palace ) . It includes 200 personal items used by John Paul throughout his life and papacy . Exhibit organizer Karla Betanzo de la Rosa says they 're expecting as many as 300,000 visitors in the three months the exhibit will last . It ends June 15 . Betanzo is also an admirer of the late pontiff , who first visited Mexico in 1979 . `` It was such a magnetic energy that you could feel whenever he was around really . It would just transform the people when he visited , '' Betanzo said . John Paul 's shoes , which are also part of the exhibit , are indeed big shoes to fill . Mexico was the first country he visited in 1979 , shortly after becoming pope . He would visit four more times in 1990 , 1993 , 1999 and 2002 , traveling to 12 of Mexico 's 31 states . Mexican Catholics called the Polish pontiff `` Mexico 's pope . '' John Paul was an energetic 58-year-old when he first arrived in Mexico in 1979 . The Rev . JosÃ© de JesÃºs Aguilar , spokesman with the Mexico City Archdiocese , says it 's just a matter of time before Mexican Catholics learn to love Benedict . `` When John Paul came to Mexico for the first time nobody knew him . It was only after getting to know him that people started loving him . Therefore , we should n't jump to conclusions . Let us welcome Benedict to this land and show him that Mexicans are good hosts , '' Aguilar says . A survey conducted by Demotecnia , a national polling firm , found that more than three-quarters of Mexican Catholics are not excited by the visit or less excited than they were when the previous pope visited . One place the pope will not visit is Mexico City . Benedict is 85 and the city 's high altitude poses a risk to the pope 's health , say Vatican officials . Dominguez still treasures the previous pope 's visits , including to her native Mexico City , but adds , `` There 's no comparison between them ; they 're very different . '' `` Pope John Paul loved being close to the people . '' Of his decision not to visit Mexico City , Dominguez says , `` I know there 's a lot of conflict right now , but we do n't like the fact that he 's not coming to Mexico City . But I 'm sure he 's a generous man as well . '' There 's hope for a renewal of affection in the new generation . Dominguez 's daughter Paulina says she 's really looking forward to the pope 's mass . `` It 's like watching my favorite person , a superhero . '' CNN producer Nick Parker in Mexico City contributed to this story .
Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Mexico for the first time Friday . First visit to Spanish -speaking Latin America in his seven-year pontificate . seven-year before visit , a Catholics exhibit opens to honor Pope Benedict XVI .