Question:
Answer:
The Latin in the Roman Missal reads: “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi…”
It can be translated as “sin of the world,” meaning a singular that encompasses the totality of sins in the world, or as the plural “sins of the world.”
In English, while we would normally use the plural to express multiple sins, we can use the singular in certain situations. For example, if I spoke about an immoral person by saying, “He lives a life of sin,” it is obvious that I am saying the person commits many sins and not simply one sin.
In English, the Roman Missal has been translated using the plural (“sins of the world”), but in some languages it has been translated as a singular (e.g., Spanish: “el pecado del mundo“).
Both are correct translations and up to the preference of the official translators.