The contemporary understanding of the Church as formulated by the Second Vatican Council, conceives of the Church as being fundamentally turned outside of itself, whilst remaining humble and in the form of a community that thus opens itself to all manner of human existence. The basic goal that justifies the existence of the Church is the salvation of people and of the world.
From the first years of the Church's existence it is possible to trace this soteriological characteristic of the Church, which in subsequent centuries -the time of the Church Fathers - was further developed. The publication also offers further investigations into the Church's self-understanding.