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
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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

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
readJerremiah 32:17

Pray that the God who made the heavens and the earth by the power of His outstretched arm, the One who is able to save those who are lost, will show His great love and mercy to those who are walking in darkness.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that God will remove obstacles to the gospel so that many will see the hope He offers through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, and be transformed from being enemies to being His friends.

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"
readMark 7:9

Pray that as men, women, boys, and girls place their faith in Christ, they will let go of any traditions that do not honor Him.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

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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