In 1773, with the suppression of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits entrusted the college to the secular clergy. It was seriously damaged during the French occupation of Rome. After the restoration of the Jesuits, Pope Leo XII on 17 May 1824, with the brief "Cum Fine", ordered the restitution of the Roman College with the outbuildings and church of St. Ignatius to the Society of Jesus. Leo himself was present for the inauguration of the new academic year on 2 November 1824. Fr. Giovanni Perrone was among the distinguished faculty of theology of that time. With the reopening of the Roman College the famous astronomical observatory was restored and enlarged.