The Calo Romani of Brazil

The Calo Romani of Brazil, numbering approximately 1,000,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are one of the three major Romani (Gypsy) ethnic groups in Brazil, alongside the Rom and Sinti. They are part of the global Romani diaspora but have a distinct Iberian-rooted identity. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Caló is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Calon

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: Romani
Primary Language(s): Caló (rmq)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 1,000,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG016568
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Calo Romani of Brazil

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

80%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Caló
Language Family: Indo-European

80%
%
Caló Speakers

Media Resources in Caló:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Caló:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Missao Amigos dos Ciganos (MACI)✓

1 entry

Or check out the Caló bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Calo Romani are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Calo Romani:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Calo Romani of Brazil

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
readPsalm 1:1-2

Pray that God will call out many sons and daughters from among them and give them a deep love for His Word.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 6:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will lay down all evil desires, dying to sin and living for Him alone.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Roma, Calo Across Countries (ROP3 - 101857) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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