In the Roman Catholic Church, before 1960 the Fifth Sunday of
Lent was called Passion Sunday because the (lengthy) Passion of the
Lord was read at Mass as the Gospel reading. In 1960, Blessed Pope
John XXIII changed the name of Passion Sunday to "First Sunday of
Passion-tide," to conform to what Pope Pius XII had done
earlier--he had changed the name of Palm Sunday to "Second Sunday
of Passion-tide, or Palm Sunday." That lasted until 1969 when Pope
Paul VI abolished Passion-tide (as a sort of sub-season of Lent),
so as of right now the Sunday before Palm Sunday is officially
known as the Fifth Sunday of Lent.
But--I suspect many people would know what you are talking about
when you say "Passion Sunday", particularly old-fashioned or
Traditional Roman Catholics and very high-church Episcopalians