Auberge de Castille will be light up red from 7 to 11pm on Friday in memory of all those who were killed for their religious beliefs, Aid to the Church in Need said.

The coloured illumination will coincide with the launch in Malta of a major report published by the international Catholic charity at the Good Shepherd church in Balzan.

The report warns that persecution of Christians has reached the highest historic levels, with growing attacks on the faithful by governments and fundamentalist groups including ISIS and Boko Haram.

The report describes Christianity as “the world’s most oppressed faith community” and states that anti-Christian persecution in the worst regions has reached “a new peak” and its impact is “only now beginning to be felt in all its horror”.

The Auberge de Castille illumination is part of a major Europe-wide campaign conceived by Aid to the Church in Need to honour the victims of religious hatred worldwide and raise awareness of religious persecution.

The aim is to promote faith and tolerance in society, encourage everyone to stand in solidarity with victims of persecution, and oppose violence and oppression carried out in the name of religion.

This year Christian groups from across the UK took part in the initiative and 30 cathedrals, churches, universities and schools were floodlit in red on Wednesday this week. Rome’s Trevi fountain, the Eiffel Tower and the Redeemer statue in Brazil were also illuminated previously.

John Pontifex, editor of the Report, said the illuminations represented “an opportunity for us to remember that there are many thousands of people, not least Christians but also people of other faiths, being killed or persecuted because of the faith that they profess.”