Between 2015 and 2016, more than twice as many countries had increases in their level of government restrictions on religion as had decreases.

At the rollout of the State Department's annual Report on Religious Freedom last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called religious freedom the "most fundamental of human rights" and declared that "the United States will not stand by as spectators" while people around the world are persecuted for their religious beliefs.

"It is too early to say who may have been involved but you can almost pinpoint al-Shabaab elements from the nature of the attack," regional Police Chief Larry Kiyeng was quoted as saying.

However, Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya claimed it was not a religious attack.

"At the beginning of the 2000's, the number of Christians living in Iraq totals about 1.5 million, which came to about 5% of the country's population. By now, the figure has plummeted to about 100,000 people," the document states.

"The biggest Syria cities that lived through occupation by the militants have lost almost all of their Christian population."

Converts hail from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. As many as 20 Afghani men are enrolled in 'pre-confirmation' teaching on the Christian faith at the Tainionkoski parish centre in Imatra, Eastern Finland. Students are assisted by a New Testament in the Dari language, the variety of Persian spoken in Afghanistan. A Dari interpreter is also on hand via Skype to support the teaching given in English.